Staphylokinase (SAK) is a promising thrombolytic agent for treating blood-clotting disorders. Recombinant SAK (rSAK) was produced
after integration of the gene into
Pichia pastoris genome. The recombinant
Pichia carrying multiple insertions of the SAK gene yielded high-level (~1 g/l) of extracellular glycosylated rSAK (~18 kDa) with
negligible plasminogen activation activity. Addition of tunicamycin during the induction phase resulted in expression of non-glycosylated
and highly active rSAK (~15 kDa) from the same clone. Two simple steps of ion-exchange chromatography produced an homogenous
rSAK of >95% purity which suitable for future structural and functional studies.
Keywords Glycosylation -
Pichia pastoris
- Plasminogen activation - Staphylokinase - Tunicamycin