Functional evaluation of a recombinant fungal immunomodulatory protein from L. rhinocerus produced in P. pastoris and E. coli host expression systems

Fungal immunomodulatory proteins (FIPs) are bioactive proteins with immunomodulatory properties. We previously reported the heterologous production in Escherichia coli of FIP-Lrh from Tiger milk mushroom (Lignosus rhinocerus) with potent cytotoxic effect on cancer cell lines. However, protein produced in E. coli lacks post-translational modifications and may be contaminated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) endotoxin. Therefore, in this study, yFIP-Lrh produced in Pichia pastoris was functionally compared with eFIP-Lrh produced in E. coli. Expression construct of FIP-Lrh cDNA in pPICZα was generated, transformed into P. pastoris X-33 and Mut+ transformants were verified by colony PCR. Induction with 0.5% or 1% methanol resulted in a secreted 13.6 kDa yFIP-Lrh which was subsequently purified and verified using LCMS/MS analysis. Size exclusion chromatography confirmed eFIP-Lrh as a homodimer whereas the larger size of yFIP-Lrh may indicate post-translational modification despite negative for glycoproteins staining. At lower concentration (4-8 μg/mL), yFIP-Lrh induced significantly higher Th1 (IFN-γ, TNF-α) and Th2 (IL-6, IL-4, IL-5, IL-13) cytokines production in mice splenocytes, whereas 16 μg/mL eFIP-Lrh induced significantly higher pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6, IL-10), possibly due to higher residual LPS endotoxin (0.082 EU/mL) in eFIP-Lrh compared to negligible level in yFIP-Lrh (0.001 EU/mL). Furthermore, yFIP-Lrh showed higher cytotoxic effect on MCF-7 and HeLa cancer cells. Since both recombinant proteins of FIP-Lrh have the same peptide sequence, besides glycosylation, other post-translational modifications in yFIP-Lrh may account for its enhanced immunomodulatory and anti-proliferative activities. In conclusion, P. pastoris is preferred over E. coli for production of a functionally active yFIP-Lrh devoid of endotoxin contamination. KEY POINTS: • FIP-Lrh can induced production of Th1 and Th2 cytokines by mouse splenocytes. • Higher cytotoxic effect on cancer cells observed for yeast compared to E. coli produced FIP-Lrh. • P. pastoris allows production of an endotoxin-free and functionally active recombinant FIP-Lrh.