Cell-Free Protein Synthesis from Exonuclease-Deficient Cellular Extracts Utilizing Linear DNA Templates

Summary

Presented here is a protocol for the preparation and buffer calibration of cell extracts from exonuclease V knockout strains of Escherichia coli BL21 Rosetta2 (ΔrecBCD and ΔrecB). This is a fast, easy, and direct approach for expression in cell-free protein synthesis systems using linear DNA templates.

Abstract

Cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) has recently become very popular in the field of synthetic biology due to its numerous advantages. Using linear DNA templates for CFPS will further enable the technology to reach its full potential, decreasing the experimental time by eliminating the steps of cloning, transformation, and plasmid extraction. Linear DNA can be rapidly and easily amplified by PCR to obtain high concentrations of the template, avoiding potential in vivo expression toxicity. However, linear DNA templates are rapidly degraded by exonucleases that are naturally present in the cell extracts. There are several strategies that have been proposed to tackle this problem, such as adding nuclease inhibitors or chemical modification of linear DNA ends for protection. All these strategies cost extra time and resources and are yet to obtain near-plasmid levels of protein expression. A detailed protocol for an alternative strategy is presented here for using linear DNA templates for CFPS. By using cell extracts from exonuclease-deficient knockout cells, linear DNA templates remain intact without requiring any end-modifications. We present the preparation steps of cell lysate from Escherichia coli BL21 Rosetta2 ΔrecBCD strain by sonication lysis and buffer calibration for Mg-glutamate (Mg-glu) and K-glutamate (K-glu) specifically for linear DNA. This method is able to achieve protein expression levels comparable to that from plasmid DNA in E. coli CFPS.

Introduction

Cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) systems are increasingly being used as a fast, simple, and efficient method for biosensor engineering, decentralized manufacturing, and prototyping of genetic circuits¹. Due to their great potential, CFPS systems are used regularly in the field of synthetic biology. However, so far CFPS systems rely on circular plasmids that can limit the technology from reaching its full potential. Preparing plasmid DNA depends on many time-consuming steps during cloning and large amounts of DNA isolation. On the other hand, PCR amplification from a plasmid, or a synthesized DNA template, can be used to simply prepa....

Protocol

1. Media and buffer preparation

1. Preparation of 2xYT+P medium (solid and liquid)
   1. Prepare liquid and solid media as described in Table 1, and then sterilize by autoclaving.
      NOTE: This protocol requires one 2xYT+P agar plate containing chloramphenicol (10 µg/mL). The volume of liquid media is proportional to the volume of the lysate required. Here, a starting volume of 5 L of liquid 2xYT+P media is used. However, the volume can be adjusted as needed, knowing that 1 L of the cell culture results in 2 to 3 mL of the final cell lysate.
2. Preparation of chloramphenicol (34 mg/mL)

Results

Representative results are shown here after calibration of the lysate for optimal Mg-glutamate and K-glutamate levels separately for linear and plasmid DNA (Figure 1). The Mg-glutamate optimal concentration is similar across ΔrecB and ΔrecBCD extracts at 8 mM (Figure 1B). However, the optimal K-glutamate concentration for plasmid DNA is 140 mM, whereas the optimal K-glutamate concentration for linear DNA for the same extract is 20 mM (

Discussion

Here, we show that cell lysate prepared from E. coli BL21 Rosetta2 with a genomic knockout for either recB or recBCD operon supports high protein expression from linear DNA templates. This protocol elaborates a step-by-step lysate calibration procedure specific for linear DNA templates (Figure 2), which is a critical step that leads to the high expression from σ70 promoters in linear DNA, reaching near-plasmid levels for equimolar DNA concentrations. This prot.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
2-YT Broth	Invitrogen	22712020
1.5 mL Safe-Lock tubes	Eppendorf	30120086	1.5 mL microtube
384-well square-bottom microplate	Thermo Scientific Nunc	142761
3PGA (D-(-)-3-Phosphoglyceric acid disodium)	Sigma-Aldrich	P8877
adhesive plate seal	Thermo Scientific Nunc	232701
Agar	Invitrogen	30391023
ATP (Adenosine 5'-triphosphate disodium salt hydrate)	Sigma-Aldrich	A8937
BL21 Rosetta2	Merck Millipore	71402
BL21 Rosetta2 ΔrecB	Addgene	176582
BL21 Rosetta2 ΔrecBCD	Addgene	176583
cAMP (Adenosine 3' 5'-cyclic monophosphate)	Sigma-Aldrich	A9501
Chloramphenicol	Sigma-Aldrich	C0378
CoA (Coenzyme A hydrate)	Sigma-Aldrich	C4282
Corning 15 mL PP Centrifuge Tubes, Rack Packed with CentriStar Cap, Sterile	Corning	430790	15 mL tube
Corning 50 mL PP Centrifuge Tubes, Conical Bottom with CentriStar Cap, Sterile	Corning	430828	50 mL tube
CTP (Cytidine 5'-triphosphate, disodium salt hydrate)	Alfa Aesar	J62238
DpnI	NEB	R0176S
DTT (DL-Dithiothreitol)	Sigma-Aldrich	D0632
Folinic acid (solid folinic acid calcium salt)	Sigma-Aldrich	F7878
GTP (Guanosine 5?-Triphosphate,  Disodium Salt)	Sigma-Aldrich	371701
HEPES	Sigma-Aldrich	H3375
K phosphate dibasic (K2HPO4)	Carl Roth	231-834-5
K phosphate monobasic (H2KO4P)	Sigma-Aldrich	P5655
K-glutamate	Alfa Aesar	A17232
Mg-glutamate	Sigma-Aldrich	49605
Millex-GP Syringe Filter Unit, 0.22 µm, polyethersulfone	Merck Millipore	SLGP033RB	membrane filter 0.22 µm
Monarch PCR & DNA Cleanup Kit	NEB	T1030S	PCR & DNA cleanup Kit
Monarch Plasmid Miniprep Kit	NEB	T1010S	Plasmid Miniprep Kit
NAD (B-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide hydrate)	Sigma-Aldrich	N6522
NIST-traceable FITC standard	Invitrogen	F36915	NIST-FITC
NucleoBond Xtra Maxi kit	Macherey-Nagel	740414.1	Plasmid Maxiprep Kit
PEG 8000	Sigma-Aldrich	89510
plate reader	Biotek	Synergy HTX
Purified Recombinant EGFP Protein	Chromotek	egfp-250	recombinant eGFP
Q5 High-Fidelity 2X Master Mix	NEB	M0492S	DNA polymerase
Q5 High-Fidelity 2X Master Mix	New England Biolabs	M0492L	DNA polymerase
Qubit dsDNA BR Assay Kit	Thermo	Q32850	fluorometric assay with DNA-binding dye
RTS Amino Acid Sampler	biotechrabbit	BR1401801
Spermidine	Sigma-Aldrich	85558
Sterile water			Purified water from the Millipore RiOs 8 system, sterilized by autoclaving.
Tris base	Life Science products Cytiva	17-1321-01
tRNA	Roche	10109550001
Ultrasonic processor Vibra cell VC-505	SONICS	VC505	sonicator
UTP Na3 (Uridine 5'- triphosphate, trisodium salt hydrate)	Acros Organics	226310010
Water, nuclease-free	Thermo	R0581	nuclease-free water