Purification and Characterization of Recombinant Tadpole H-Chain Ferritin in Escherichia coli

Purification and Characterization of Recombinant Tadpole H-Chain Ferritin in Escherichia coli

The tadpole H-ferritin produced in E. coli was purified and its molecular properties were investigated to obtain information about the contribution of the H-subunit in the reaction of iron core formation. All the expressed subunits were assembled into complete holoprotein in vitro, presumably 24-mer, and the protein was heat-stable. Electron microscopy revealed that the recombinant ferritin forms spherically and contains iron core. No difference was observed in the absorption spectrum of the expressed protein compared to that of the natural ferritin. The Ouchterlony double diffusion of the expressed protein showed that the H-chain ferritin shares an antigenic determinant with natural tadpole ferritin. Rabbit anti-horse spleen ferritin discriminated the H-ferritin from natural ferritin. The rate of ferritin formation by the recombinant H-chain apoferritin was determined to be higher than that shown by natural tadpole ferritin, which consists of H, M and L-subunits. This phenomenon may be caused by the absence of M and L-subunits in the recombinant H-chain apoferritin.