RimJ is responsible for N ~α-acetylation of thymosin α1 in Escherichia coli

摘要

N ~α-Acetylation is one of the most common protein modifications in eukaryotes but a rare event in prokaryotes. Some endogenously N ~α-acetylated proteins in eukaryotes are frequently reported not to be acetylated or only very partially when expressed in recombinant Escherichia coli. Thymosin α1 (Tα1), an N ~α- acetylated peptide of 28 amino acids, displays a powerful general immunostimulating activity. Here, we revealed that a fusion protein of thymosin α1 and L12 is partly N ~α-acetylated in E. coli. Through deletion of some N ~α-acetyltransferases by Red recombination, we found that, when rimJ is disrupted, the fusion protein is completely unacetylated. The relationship of rimJ and N ~α-acetylation of Tα1 was further investigated by gene rescue and in vitro modification. Our results demonstrate that N ~α-acetylation of recombinant Tα1-fused protein in E. coli is catalyzed by RimJ and that fully acetylated Tα1 can be obtained by co-expressing with RimJ. This is the first description that an ectopic protein acetylation in bacterial expression systems is catalyzed by RimJ, a known prokaryotic N ~α- acetyltransferase.