Secretion of genetically-engineered dihydrofolate reductase from Escherichia coli using an E. coli alpha-hemolysin membrane translocation system.

Secretion of fusion proteins composed of cytoplasmic protein dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) and the Escherichia coli alpha-haemolysin (HlyA) C-terminal sequence was examined through the haemolysin secretion machinery of E. coli. DHFR of various lengths was combined with the HlyA C-terminal region, and both secretion and DHFR activity of the fusions were measured. The secretion was found to be inversely correlated with the intracellular DHFR activity. Moreover, when one amino acid (Ile155) in a beta-sheet of the DHFR C-terminal region was replaced with Lys, the enzymatically active DHFR fusion protein was secreted into the medium. We discuss the possibility of a relationship between folding and secretion of HlyA-fused protein in the HlyA secretion system.