Expression and Biochemical Characterization of the Bacillus thuringiensis Cry4B ${\alpha}1$-${\alpha}5$ Pore-forming Fragment

Tryptic activation of the 130-kDa Bacillus thuringiensis Cry4B $\delta$-endotoxin produced protease-resistant products of ca. 47 kDa and ca. 21 kDa. The 21-kDa fragment was identified as the N-terminal five-helix bundle (${\alpha}1-{\alpha}5$,) which is a potential candidate for membrane insertion and pore formation. In this study, we constructed the recombinant clone over-expressing this putative pore-forming (PPF) fragment as inclusion bodies in Escherichia coli. The partially purified inclusions were composed of a 23-kDa protein, which cross-reacted with Cry4B antibodies, and whose N-terminus was identical to that of the 130-kDa protein. Dissimilar to protoxin inclusions, the PPF inclusions were only soluble when the carbonate buffer, pH 9.0, was supplemented with 6 M urea. After renaturation via a stepwise dialysis, the refolded PPF protein appeared to exist as an oligomer and was structurally stable upon trypsin treatment. Unlike the 130kDa protoxin, the refolded protein was able to release entrapped glucose from liposomes, and showed comparable activity to the full-length activated toxin, although it lacks larvicidal activity These results, therefore, support the notion that the PPF fragment that consists of ${\alpha}1-{\alpha}5$ of the activated Cry4B toxin is involved in membrane pore-formation.