TEV protease-facilitated stoichiometric delivery of multiple genes using a single expression vector.

Delivery and expression of multiple genes is an important requirement in a range of applications such as the engineering of synthetic signaling pathways and the induction of pluripotent stem cells. However, conventional approaches are often inefficient, nonstoichiometric and may limit the maximum number of genes that can be simultaneously expressed. We here describe a versatile approach for multiple gene delivery using a single expression vector by mimicking the protein expression strategy of RNA viruses. This was accomplished by first expressing the genes together with TEV protease as a single fusion protein, then proteolytically self-cleaving the fusion protein into functional components. To demonstrate this method in E. coli cells, we analyzed the translation products using SDS-PAGE and showed that the fusion protein was efficiently cleaved into its components, which can then be purified individually or as a binding complex. To demonstrate this method in mammalian cells, we designed a differential localization scheme and used live cell imaging to observe the distinctive subcellular targeting of the processed products. We also showed that the stoichiometry of the processed products was consistent and corresponded with the frequency of appearance of their genes on the expression vector. In summary, the efficient expression and separation of up to three genes was achieved in both E. coli and mammalian cells using a single TEV protease self-processing vector.