TAR DNA binding protein or TDP-43 is a 414 amino acid long member of heterogeneous ribonucleoprotein family (hnRNP). Its structure consists of a well-folded N-terminal domain involved in homodimerization, the most common form of the protein under physiological conditions. This is followed by the loop representing the nuclear localization signal, and then two RNA recognition motifs, RRM1 and RRM2. At the end of the protein structure is the disordered C-terminal domain which is a site of many mutations. The TDP-43 is mostly localized in the nucleus where it participates in all phases of RNA processing and regulation, controls the expression genes and non-coding RNA, facilitates the stability and transport of mRNA, and mediates in stress granules assembly. Stress granules are small, aggregated cytoplasmic structures, composed of mRNA and its binding proteins. They appear as a response of a eukaryotic cell answer to environmental stress when they must repress the expression of proteins that are not essential for survival. The accumulation of TDP-43 in the cytoplasm is typical of pathological conditions in neurons leading to cell death and consequently to some neurodegenerative disease such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We aimed to isolate the wild type of TDP-43 and four of its mutants. Using the IVA cloning method, we prepared the recombinant vector pMCSG7, into which we inserted the TDP-43 sequence together with the maltose binding protein (MBP) sequence. We prepared two different recombinant vectors, the first with MBP at the N-terminus and the second with MBP at the C-terminus of TDP-43. After expression in E. coli BL21[DE3] cells, we isolated the fusion protein by nickel affinity chromatography and purified it with a heparin column. The results showed that only the fusion with MBP at the C-terminus was stable, whereas the fusion protein with MBP at the N-terminus fragmented during or/and after isolation. We isolated sufficient amounts of protein TDP-43 – MBP for subsequent aggregation and interaction studies. We managed to isolate one mutant form, with the mutation at sites 301/307, which only contains both RRM regions, and has an MBP fusion at the C-terminal domain. In further experiments, we should optimize the isolation procedure for mutant protein forms and perform aggregation and interaction studies of TDP-43 and its mutants relevant to neurodegenerative diseases.
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