Production of active carboxypeptidase Y of Saccharomyces cerevisiae secreted from methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris

Abstract

Our previous study showed that the overexpression of carboxypeptidase Y (CPY) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in Escherichia coli resulted in the formation of insoluble inclusion bodies. To produce soluble CPY, we designed a novel Pichia pastoris expression system in which the following were inserted into expression vectors: three different signal sequences derived from the mating factor a1 of S. cerevisiae, an inulinase of Kluyveromyces marxianus, and the endogenous signal sequence of CPY. The expression vector pHIL-D2-SSinul-proCPY was the most effective in the production of proCPY among the vectors examined. The purified active CPY was obtained from proCPY by treating with proteinase K, followed by Q-Excellose ion-exchange column chromatography.