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Secretory expression and surface display of a new and biologically active single-chain insulin (SCI-59) analog by lactic acid bacteria

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Abstract

Insulin plays an important role in drug therapies for diabetes mellitus and as the main route of insulin delivery, subcutaneous injection may cause local discomfort, hypoglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, and patient non-compliance. Therefore, oral delivery of insulin is more preferred. However, there is a low bioavailability due to insulin degradation by proteolytic enzymes and severe pH conditions along the gastrointestinal tract. In order to use the food-grade bacteria lactic acid bacteria (LAB) as oral delivery vehicles, a new and bioactive single-chain insulin (SCI-59) analog, containing the insulin B- and A-chains connected by an eight-residue linker (RSRGLPFR), was secretory expressed in Lactococcus lactis NZ3900 without using an antibiotic resistance gene and displayed onto the surface of various non-viable bacteria (NVBs) without genetic modification. Both the free SCI-59 and SCI-59 displayed on the surface of NVBs are biologically active as assayed by their ability to stimulate Akt signaling in differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Modification of the pH of the medium by NaOH addition at early time during induction can enhance the bioactivity of SCI-59. The C-terminal fused anchoring domain, three LysM repeats, does not affect the formation of disulfide bonds and/or the folding of SCI-59, and SCI-59 could be exposed properly and fully when SCI-59-3LysM bound to the surface of NVBs. Compared to the free form SCI-59, SCI-59 displayed on the surface of NVBs is more stable in simulate gastric juice. It may open new prospects for possible oral treatments of diabetes using live LAB secreting or NVBs carrying bioactive SCI analogs.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program, NO. 2011CB504800), the Promotive Research Fund for Excellent Young and Middle-aged Scientists of Shandong Province (NO. BS2014YY042), and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation Funded Project (NO. 2016M600520).

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  1. State Key Laboratory of Virology, College of Life Sciences|, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China

    Ruifeng Mao, Dongli Wu, Shimeng Hu, Kangping Zhou & Yefu Wang

  2. Institute of Translational Medicine, Medical College of Qingdao University, Qingdao, 266021, China

    Man Wang

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  1. Ruifeng Mao
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Correspondence to Yefu Wang.

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Mao, R., Wu, D., Hu, S. et al. Secretory expression and surface display of a new and biologically active single-chain insulin (SCI-59) analog by lactic acid bacteria. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 101, 3259–3271 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-017-8125-8

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