The basis of my master’s degree was to prepare an expression cassette, molecular cloning and isolation, and purification of human indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1). The recombinant enzyme will enable the evolution and development of new inhibitors of IDO1, which might potentially be used in cancer treatment.
IDO1 is a normally presented enzyme in human cells. It catalyses the primary path in the catabolism of tryptophan. During the process, some toxic metabolites are synthetized. Through the metabolism of tryptophan and the formation of kynurenine, which is a ligand of aryl hydrocarbon receptors (AhR), tumors are hidden from our immune system. This facilitates their growth and development.
Recombinant human IDO1 (rhIDO1) was expressed in Escherichia coli NiCo21 cells. The gene for IDO1 was inserted into vector pET_28. On 5'-side of gene, we inserted a nucleotide sequence for hexahystidine tail and a peptide sequence, which can be cleaved with thrombin. We inserted the plasmid into the expression system by the means of heat shock. We multiplied cells which received the insert and added Isopropyl β-D-1-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG), which induced the expression of rhIDO1. Our experiments focused on a search for the most appropriate conditions (temperature, time of induction, concentration of glucose, type of medium …) with the aim to optimize the expression and improve the quality and quantity of product. For purification we used a multistage chromatography process (immobilized metal affinity chromatography, size-exclusion chromatography and ion-exchange chromatography). The purity of product was monitored with polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The concentration of product was measured with spectrophotometry and the Bradford method. At the end we tested activity of IDO1 with biochemical testing.
The expression of rhIDO1 was successful. Although the product has some impurities and was less active than the commercial standard, we can still use it for evaluation of potential inhibitors of rhIDO1 in enzyme testing.
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