• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.887-889
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• 2001

The gene encoding yeast pro-carboxypeptidase Y (pro-CPY) has been cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. Most of the expressed pro-CPY was accumulated as cytoplasmic insoluble aggregates. In our previous study, active CPY was obtained by renaturation of entirely denatured pro-CPY followed by in vitro proteolytic processing with proteinase K along with the activation process. The same refolding process was performed to produce an active CPY from pro-CPY inclusion bodies with renaturation buffers containing proteinase K at different concentrations. The refolding efficiency decreased from $25\%\;to\;2\%$ in the renaturation buffers containing proteinase K at concentrations of $60{\mu}g/ml\;and\;0.6{\mu}g/mi$, respectively. In an attempt to increase the refolding efficiency with a lesser amount of proteinase K, a novel fed-batch refolding process was developed. In a fed-batch refolding, 99 ml of the renaturation buffer containing pro-CPY was gradually added into 1 ml of the renaturation buffer containing $60{\mu}g/ml$ of proteinase K to give a final proteinase K concentration of $0.6{\mu}g/ml$. The fed-batch refolding process resulted in a refolding efficiency of $18\%$, which corresponded to a 9-fold increase over that ($2\%$) in the batch process.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.202-205
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• 2005

Our previous study showed that the overexpression of carboxypeptidase Y (CPY) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in Escherichia coli resulted in the formation of insoluble inclusion bodies. To produce soluble CPY, we designed a novel Pichia pastoris expression system, in which the following were inserted into expression vectors: three different signal sequences derived from the mating factor a1 of S. cerevisiae, an inulinase of Kluyveromyces marxianus, and the endogenous signal sequence of CPY. The expression vector pHIL-D2-SSinul-proCPY was the most effective in the production of proCPY among the vectors examined. The purified active CPY was obtained from proCPY by treating with proteinase K, followed by QExcellose ion-exchange column chromatography.