Abstract:

【Objective】 In order to develop new drugs against cysticercosis, the dUTPase gene from Cysticercus cellulosae was cloned and expressed. Functionality of the purified recombinant dUTPase was proven by demonstrating catalytic activity towards different substrates. 【Method】 The gene of the dUTPase was obtained by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) from Cysticercus cellulosae, then cloned into fusion expression vector of pET, and highly expressed in E. coli BL21. The His6-tagged recombinant dUTPase was purified on Ni2+–IDA–Sepharose, and the enzymatic activity was investigated. 【Result】 Analysis showed that the open reading frames (ORFs) of dUTPase genes from both cysticerci and oncospheres shared 100% identity, and five conserved motifs were also found in amino acid sequence. The molecular mass of recombinant dUTPase was 21 kD as judged by SDS-PAGE. After purified, the protein concentration of dUTPase was 2.863mg?mL-1. The analysis of the enzymatic activity indicated that the recombinant dUTPase could catalyse the hydrolysis of dUTP and the activity of enzyme was enhanced by Mg2+ and inhibited by EDTA. 【Conclusion】 The dUTPase from Cysticercus cellulosae has been cloned, expressed and identified, which provided a material foundation for a novel drug design against cysticercosis.

Key words: dUTP pyrophosphatase, cysticercus cellulose, prokaryotic expression, enzymatic activity