[Molecular cloning, protein expression and preparation of polyclonal antibody of ficolin-A]

Abstract

Aim: To clone mouse ficolin-A cDNA, construct eukaryotic and prokaryotic expression vectors and prepare polyclonal antibody of ficolin-A.

Methods: Full length of the ficolin-A cDNA fragment from the liver of newly born C57BL/6 mouse was amplified by RT-PCR by the use of GeneRacer kit. Then it was cloned into the eukaryotic vector pVAX-1 and prokaryotic vector pGEX-KG and expressed as a fusion protein in E.coli BL21 induced by IPTG. The expressed GST-ficolin-A fusion protein was purified via GST-Sepharose 4B Column and identified by SDS-PAGE and Western blot. The antibody against ficolin-A was prepared and its titer was identified.

Results: The recombinant eukaryotic vector pVAX-1-ficolin-A and prokaryotic expression vector pGEX-KG-ficolin-A were successfully constructed. The recombinant GST-ficolin-A protein was overexpressed in E.coli. The relative molecular mass (M(r)) of the expressed product was identical with the predicted value. The antibody was prepared successfully.

Conclusion: We have successfully got the constructions of the recombinant eukaryotic vector pVAX-1-ficolin-A, prokaryotic expression vector pGEX-KG-ficolin-A and the purified recombinant ficolin-A protein in E.coli BL21. These will be helpful for the further investigation of the biological function of ficolin-A.