Production of recombinant IGF1 and its action on neuroblastoma cells in vitro

This study aimed to develop a method for producing human recombinant insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) based on a prokaryotic expression system and to characterize the highly purified protein. To achieve the study’s goal, the following methods were conducted: we performed automated chemical synthesis of DNA, constructed the expression plasmid, obtained Escherichia coli cell-producers of human recombinant IGF-1, cultivated the obtained producer cells with the induction of recombinant protein synthesis by isopropyl-β-D-1-thiogalactopyranoside and lactose, and purified human recombinant IGF-1 with affinity and cation exchange chromatography. The recombinant protein IGF-1 forms inclusion bodies during synthesis in Escherichia coli BL21 cells that contain plasmid pET28-IGF-1. Purified recombinant protein was obtained with a purity of 98% using affinity and cation exchange chromatography methods. The protein yield was 6 mg of human recombinant IGF-1 from 1 g of raw biomass. The resulting protein has the ability to protect Neuro 2a neuroblastoma cells from death caused by the deprivation of serum in the culture medium and can stimulate the differentiation of cells into neurons. Thus, a highly purified human recombinant IGF-1 was obtained. This protein has biological activity and is suitable for preclinical studies.