Rabbit Anti-HTRA2 monoclonal antibody, clone TU65-16

Background: Regulating apoptosis is a common and essential therapeutic strategy for cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. Based on basic studies of apoptotic mechanisms, various researches have attempted to overcome the pathogenesis of such diseases by activating or inhibiting apoptosis. Generally, the biochemical characteristics of the target molecules should be evaluated along with understanding of their mechanisms of action during drug development. Among apoptotic regulators, XIAP serves as a potent negative regulator to block apoptosis through the inhibition of caspase (CASP)-9 and -3/7. Although XIAP is an attractive target with such apoptotic-modulating property, biochemical and biophysical studies of XIAP are still challenging. Methods: In this study, the CASP-9 and -3/7 inhibitors XIAP, 242 Delta and Delta 230 were prepared using the pGEX expression system and biochemically characterized. Results: These inhibitors were expressed in Escherichia coli at a concentration of >= 20 mg/L culture under a native condition with 0.01 mM IPTG induction. Notably, using a simple and rapid affinity purification technique, these CASP-9 and -3/7 inhibitors have been purified, yielding >= 5 mg/L culture at approximately 90% purity. Conclusions: We have determined that HtrA2 specifically binds to the BIR2 and BIR3 of XIAP at a 1:1 molecular ratio. Moreover, in vitro cell-free CASP-9 and -3/7 activation-apoptosis assays have demonstrated that these purified XIAP proteins dramatically inhibit CASP-9 and -3/7 action. General significance: Our system is suitable for biochemical studies, such as quantitation of the number of molecules acting on the apoptosis regulation, and provides a basis and insights that can be applied to the development of therapeutic agents for neurodegenerative disorders and cancer.

HtrA2 is an apoptosis-activating protein to enhance the apoptotic process by preventing the formation of the IAP-caspase complex, thus freeing caspase to trigger the apoptosis pathway. Here, we presented the full-length sequence of HtrA2 from the black tiger shrimp (PmHtrA2). The full-length PmHtrA2 transcript was 1403 bp with a 1338 bp open reading frame encoding 445 amino acids and contains 5 conserved domains, namely, a mitochondria] targeting signal (MTS), a transmembrane (TM) domain, an IAP-binding motif (IBM), a serine protease domain, and a PDZ domain normally found in HtrA2 proteins of other organisms. The mature form of PmHtrA2 was cloned into the pET28b(+) and pET15bThio vectors, and the expression of the protein was compared in Escherichia coli BL21 DE3 and BL21 RIL (CodonPlus) strains. Greater quantities of stable and soluble PmHtrA2 were expressed as a thioredoxin fusion protein in E. coli BL21 RIL (CodonPlus) cells with the recombinant pET15bThio-PmHtrA2 vector. To investigate the expression of PmHtrA2 in shrimp, the crude proteins from several shrimp tissues were imaged by Western blot using the polyclonal antibody specific to the recombinant PmHtrA2. The expression of the 47-kDa immature PmHtrA2 protein could be detected in shrimp lysates from the gills and the muscles. This study is the first to report the full-length PmHtrA2 gene, which is functional in black tiger shrimp and will lead to more focused studies on the function of PmHtrA2 in apoptosis regulation during immune responses to viral infection in shrimp. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.