Cloning, expression and purification of outer membrane protein PorA of Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B.

Introduction: Neisseria meningitidis is a major causative agent of bacterial septicemia and meningitis in humans. Currently, there are no vaccines to prevent disease caused by strains of N. meningitidis serogroup B. PorA is a major component of the outer membrane of N. meningitidis and functions as a cationic porin. This study aimed to clone and determine the expression of PorA.

Methodology: A 1200 bp fragment of porA gene was amplified by PCR from serogroup B N. meningitidis and then cloned into prokaryotic expression vector pET-32a. For expression of recombinant protein, pET32a-porA plasmid was transformed into competent Origami B (DE3) cells. Recombinant protein was overexpressed with isopropythio-beta-D-galctoside (IPTG) and affinity purified by Ni-NTA agarose. SDS-PAGE and western blotting were performed for protein determination and verification.

Results: Cloning of porA was confirmed by colony-PCR and enzymatic digestion. In comparison with the corresponding sequences of original genes, the nucleotide sequence homology of the cloned porA gene was 97%. IPTG with a dosage of 1.0 mmol/L could efficiently induce protein expression. SDS-PAGE analysis showed that our constructed prokaryotic expression system pET32a-PorA-Origami efficiently produces a target recombinant protein with a molecular weight of 65 kDa. The recombinant PorA was overexpressed as inclusion bodies and reacted with the serum from a rabbit previously immunized with native outer membrane vesicle.

Conclusion: This prokaryotic expression system provides an easy method for producing recombinant PorA and may also be useful for the production of other bacterial outer membrane proteins for vaccine studies.