After cloning the vesicle nucleating peptide, or VNP sequence tag, at the amino terminal of the fusion protein, culture a five-milliliter lysogeny broth, or LB starters, from fresh bacterial transformations at 37 degrees Celsius to saturation. Then, use that to inoculate 25 milliliters of terrific broth, or TB, containing appropriate antibiotic selection in a 500-milliliter conical flask. Incubate the flask in an incubator at 37 degrees Celsius while shaking at 200 rotations per minute or greater than equal to a 25-millimeter orbital throw until the culture reaches a 600-nanometer optical density value, or OD 600, of 0.8 to 1.0.
Then, induce recombinant protein expression from the T7 promoter by adding IPTG to a final concentration of up to 20 micrograms per milliliter or 84 micromolar. After allowing sufficient time for induction, pellet the cells by centrifugation at 3000 G at 4 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes. Pass the supernatant through a sterile and detergent free 0.45 micron PES filter to sterilize the vesicle containing media for long-term storage.
To concentrate the vesicles into a smaller volume, pass the sterile vesicle containing media through a sterile and detergent free 0.1 micron MCE filter. Then, gently wash the membrane with 0.5 to 1 milliliters of sterile phosphate-buffered saline, or PBS, and use a cell scraper or plastic spreader to carefully remove vesicles from the membrane. Transfer the vesicle concentrate to a fresh micro centrifuge tube using a pipette.
Purified vesicles can be stored at four degrees Celsius. Sonicate the protein containing vesicles in the sterile media using an appropriate schedule to disrupt the vesicular lipid membranes and release protein. Centrifuge the sonicated suspension at 39, 000 G and 4 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes to remove the vesicular debris.
BL21DE3 Escherichia coli containing the VNp6-mNeongreen expression construct displayed mNeongreen fluorescence being induced overnight with IPTG. The fluorescence remained visible in the culture after the removal of bacterial cells by centrifugation. The presence of VNp-mNeongreen within the culture in cleared culture media was confirmed by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.
The resuspended purified vesicles in PBS also displayed fluorescence.
