A RECOMBINANT HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS TYPE-1 CAPSID PROTEIN (RP24) - ITS EXPRESSION, PURIFICATION AND PHYSICOCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION

An expression system has been established in Escherichia coli to facilitate the preparation of the HIV-1 capsid protein in amounts sufficient for structural analysis. A plasmid vector pTCA5, containing the gene for the recombinant HIV-1 capsid protein rp24 under the control of the lambda-P-R-promoter, was constructed which gave an expression product that spanned 234 amino acid residues. It differs at the N-terminus from the authentic sequence in that the residues Pro-Ile- are replaced by Met-Asn-Ser-Ala-Met-. Recombinant p24 was produced, as inclusion bodies in E. coli LE392 containing pTCA5, at a level of approximately 15% of the total cellular protein. After dissolution of the inclusion bodies in the acidic urea system, the protein was easily reconstituted in a soluble state by dialysis. The yield of reconstituted and purified protein was 12 mg per liter in rich medium. Recombinant rp24 consists of about 40% alpha-helix and 10% beta-sheet from circular dichroism measurements and the two cysteine residues, within the rp24 sequence, are bridged by a disulfide bond.