Patent Abstract:
Helicobacter pylori  is closely associated with chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, and gastric adenocarcinoma.  Helicobacter pylori  neutrophil-activating protein (HP-NAP), a virulence factor of  Helicobacter pylori , plays an important role in pathogenesis of  Helicobacter pylori  infection. Since HP-NAP has been proposed as a candidate vaccine against  Helicobacter pylori  infection, an efficient way to obtain pure HP-NAP needs to be developed. In the present invention, recombinant HP-NAP expressed in  Bacillus subtilis  and  Escherichia coli  was purified through a single step of DEAE SEPHADEX ion-exchange chromatography with high purity. Also, purified recombinant HP-NAP was able to stimulate neutrophils to produce reactive oxygen species. Thus, recombinant HP-NAP obtained from our  Bacillus subtilis  expression system and  Escherichia coli  expression system is functionally active. Furthermore, this one-step negative purification method should provide an efficient way to purify recombinant HP-NAP expressed in  Bacillus subtilis  and  Escherichia coli  for basic studies, vaccine development, or drug design.

Full Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a method for purification of a gene-transferred transformant by using an anion-exchange resin, particularly relates to a method for one-step purification of recombinant  Helicobacter pylori  neutrophil-activating protein. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       Helicobacter pylori  ( H. pylori ) is a common gastric pathogen that causes gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, and gastric adenocarcinoma.  Helicobacter pylori  neutrophil-activating protein (HP-NAP) is a virulence factor of  H. pylori . According to epidemiology reports in Taiwan, more than ten million people are infected with  H. pylori  among healthy population in Taiwan, and those people are also a high-risk group of suffering gastric adenocarcinoma. Therefore, infection of  H. pylori  becomes an important public health issue. Generally, drugs for treating  H. pylori  can be categorized into several groups, including: gastric acid suppressants, e.g. Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPIs) (e.g. Esomeprazole, Lansoprazole, Pantoprazole and Rabeprazole) and antibiotics (e.g. Amoxicillin and Clarithromycin). 
       H. pylori  is closely associated with chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, and gastric adenocarcinoma and lymphoma. HP-NAP, a virulence factor of  H. pylori , plays an important role in pathogenesis of  H. pylori  infection. Since HP-NAP has been proposed as a candidate vaccine against  H. pylori  infection, an efficient way to obtain pure HP-NAP protein needs to be developed. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     As described above,  Helicobacter pylori  ( H. pylori ) is closely associated with chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, and gastric adenocarcinoma and lymphoma.  Helicobacter pylori  neutrophil-activating protein (HP-NAP) is a virulence factor of  H. pylori  and plays an important role in pathogenesis of  H. pylori  infection. Since HP-NAP has been proposed as a candidate vaccine against  H. pylori  infection, an efficient way to obtain pure HP-NAP protein needs to be developed. 
     The present invention relates to  Bacillus subtilis  ( B. subtilis ) expression system and  Escherichia coli  ( E. coli ) expression system that can express recombinant HP-NAP. Through a single step of negative purification using diethylaminoethyl (DEAE) SEPHADEX ion-exchange resin, recombinant HP-NAP expressed as the soluble protein can be simply purified with decreased endotoxin. Purified recombinant HP-NAP has a common α-helix structure and can stimulate neutrophils to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS). These results indicate that recombinant HP-NAP obtained from our  B. subtilis  expression system and  E. coli  expression system is correctly folded and functionally active. Furthermore, this one-step negative purification method using DEAE anion-exchange resins can provide an efficient way to purify recombinant HP-NAP expressed in  B. subtilis  and  E. coli  for basic studies, vaccine development, or drug design. 
     The present invention provides a method for one-step purification of recombinant  Helicobacter pylori  neutrophil-activating protein (HP-NAP). The method comprises the steps of: providing a sample containing recombinant HP-NAP, wherein the sample is obtained from a protein expression system that can express recombinant HP-NAP; purifying the sample by a diethylaminoethyl (DEAE) resin between a predetermined pH range; and collecting a unbound fraction and a wash fraction obtained through above step, wherein the unbound fraction and the wash fraction contain the recombinant HP-NAP having a predetermined purity. 
     Preferably, the method as mentioned above, wherein the predetermined pH range is between 7.5 and 9.0, further preferably is between 7.5 and 8.0. 
     Preferably, the method as mentioned above, wherein the recombinant HP-NAP is in a native form. 
     Preferably, the method as mentioned above, wherein the recombinant HP-NAP is a multimeric protein formed by α-helix monomers. 
     Preferably, the method as mentioned above, wherein the protein expression system is  B. subtilis  expression system or  E. coli  expression system. 
     Preferably, the method as mentioned above, wherein the DEAE resin is DEAE SEPHADEX resin. 
     Preferably, the method as mentioned above, wherein the DEAE resin is DEAE SEPHAROSE resin. 
     Preferably, the method as mentioned above, wherein the recombinant HP-NAP has a purity of at least 90%. 
     Preferably, the method as mentioned above further comprises condensing the unbound fraction and the wash fraction to increase purity, and filtering the unbound fraction and the wash fraction to remove endotoxin contained in the recombinant HP-NAP. 
     Preferably, the method as mentioned above, wherein the amount of endotoxin is less than 3.29 EU/mg of the recombinant HP-NAP after filtering. 
     In another embodiment of the present invention, the method as mentioned above further comprising exchanging the buffer of the unbound fraction and the wash fraction by dialysis, and filtering the unbound fraction and the wash fraction to remove endotoxin in recombinant HP-NAP. 
     Preferably, the method as mentioned above, wherein the amount of endotoxin is less than 2.22 EU/mg of the recombinant HP-NAP after filtering. 
     Through a single step of negative purification using DEAE SEPHADEX or DEAE SEPHAROSE ion-exchange resins, the recombinant HP-NAP expressed as the soluble protein can be simply purified with decreased endotoxin. Purified recombinant HP-NAP has a common α-helix structure and immunological activity. 
     The embodiments of the present invention are further described through below detailed examples and the drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  exhibits the scheme of plasmid pRPA-NAP; 
         FIG. 2  exhibits the expression of recombinant HP-NAP in  B. subtilis;    
         FIGS. 3A-3B  exhibit recombinant HP-NAP expressed as a soluble multimeric protein from  B. subtilis;    3 A: soluble protein,  3 B: multimeric protein; 
         FIG. 4  exhibits small-scale batch method to optimize the pH to purify HP-NAP expressed in  B. subtilis  by DEAE SEPHADEX resin; 
         FIG. 5  exhibits small-scale batch method to optimize the pH to purify HP-NAP expressed in  B. subtilis  by DEAE SEPHAROSE resin; 
         FIG. 6  exhibits small-scale batch method to optimize the amount of protein from  B. subtilis  to be loaded on DEAE SEPHADEX and SEPHAROSE resins for purification of HP-NAP at pH 8; 
         FIG. 7  exhibits the chromatogram of large-scale purification of HP-NAP expressed in  B. subtilis  by DEAE SEPHADEX ion exchange column; 
         FIGS. 8A-8B  exhibits purified HP-NAP expressed in  B. subtilis  by DEAE SEPHADEX ion exchange resins;  8 A: soluble protein,  8 B: multimeric protein; 
         FIG. 9  exhibits small-scale batch method to optimize the pH to purify HP-NAP expressed in  E. coli  by DEAE SEPHADEX resin; 
         FIG. 10  exhibits small-scale batch method to optimize the pH to purify HP-NAP expressed in  E. coli  by DEAE SEPHAROSE resin; 
         FIG. 11  exhibits small-scale batch method to optimize the amount of protein from  E. coli  to be loaded on DEAE SEPHADEX and SEPHAROSE resins for purification of HP-NAP at pH 8; 
         FIGS. 12A-12B  exhibit purified HP-NAP expressed in  E. coli  by DEAE SEPHADEX ion exchange resins;  12 A: soluble protein,  12 B: multimeric protein; 
         FIGS. 13 and 14  exhibit the physical analysis of purified HP-NAP expressed in  B. subtilis  and  E. coli  by DEAE SEPHADEX ion exchange resins for its multimeric property; 
         FIG. 15  exhibits the physical analysis of purified HP-NAP expressed in  B. subtilis  and  E. coli  by DEAE SEPHADEX ion exchange resins for its secondary structure; and 
         FIG. 16  exhibits ROS production of human neutrophils stimulated by recombinant HP-NAP purified from  B. subtilis  and  E. coli.    
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     A method for one-step purification of recombinant  Helicobacter pylori  neutrophil-activating protein (HP-NAP) is described with reference to the preferred embodiments below, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims. 
     The present invention provides a method for one-step purification of recombinant HP-NAP. The method comprises the steps of: providing a sample containing recombinant HP-NAP, wherein the sample is obtained from a protein expression system that can express recombinant HP-NAP; purifying the sample by a diethylaminoethyl (DEAE) resin between a predetermined pH range; and collecting a unbound fraction and a wash fraction obtained through above step, wherein the unbound fraction and the wash fraction contain the recombinant HP-NAP having a predetermined purity. 
     In the method as mentioned above, wherein the predetermined pH range is between 7.5 and 9.0. The recombinant HP-NAP is in a native form, and is a multimeric protein formed by α-helix monomers. The protein expression system is  B. subtilis  expression system or  E. coli  expression system. 
     The DEAE resin is DEAE SEPHADEX resin or DEAE SEPHAROSE resin. The recombinant HP-NAP has a purity of at least 90%. In addition, the method as mentioned above further comprises condensing the unbound fraction and the wash fraction to increase purity, and filtering the unbound fraction and the wash fraction to remove endotoxin contained in the recombinant HP-NAP, wherein the amount of endotoxin is less than 3.29 EU/mg of the recombinant HP-NAP after filtering. In another embodiment of the present invention, the method as mentioned above also further comprising exchanging the buffer of the unbound fraction and the wash fraction by dialysis, and filtering the unbound fraction and the wash fraction to remove endotoxin contained in the recombinant HP-NAP. Preferably, the method as mentioned above, wherein the amount of endotoxin is less than 2.22 EU/mg of the recombinant HP-NAP after filtering. 
     DEFINITION 
     The term “unbound fraction” as used herein, is preferably used in batch methods, also can be replaced by the term “flow-through fraction” in chromatographic methods. 
     Materials and Methods 
     Cloning of napA into  B. Subtilis  Expression System 
     The napA gene was amplified by PCR from genomic DNA of  H. pylori  strain 26695 (accession no. AE000543, ATCC) and then cloned into pCR4-TOPO vector using the TOPO TA cloning kit (INVITROGEN, Carlsbad, Calif.) as previously described (Wang et al., 2008). The resulting plasmid, designated as pCR4-TOPO-NAP, was sequenced to confirm the correct insertion of napA. The DNA fragment containing napA was digested from pCR4-TOPO-NAP with Nde I and Hind III and then cloned into the pET28a expression vector (Novagen, Madison, Wis.). The resulting plasmid was designated as pET28a-His-NAP. The DNA fragment of napA was digested from pET28a-His-NAP with Nde I and Xho I and then cloned into the pRPA expression vector, a derivative vector of pEX5A (Yeh et al., 2007). The resulting plasmid was designated as pRPA-NAP. The map of pRPA-NAP is shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     The plasmid pRPA-NAP was transformed into a multiple-protease-deficient  B. subtilis  DB104 strain (Kawamura and Doi et al., 1984) by electroporation to express recombinant HP-NAP. The electro-transformation competent  B. subtilis  cells were prepared as previously described (Yeh et al., 2005). A volume of 100 μL, of  B. subtilis  DB104 electro-transformation competent cells were gently mixed with 1 μL of pRPA-NAP (0.34 ng) and then transferred into a prechilled electroporation cuvette with 2 mm gap (Molecular BioProducts, San Diego, Calif.). The cuvette was placed on ice for 5 min and electroporation of pRPA-NAP into  B. subtilis  DB104 was carried out at field strength of 8.75 kV/cm, capacitance of 25 nF, and resistance of 500Ω by Gene Pulser XCELL™ Electroporation System (BIORAD, Richmond, Calif.). The cells were then added in 1 mL of 2xLB recovery medium containing 3% tryptone, 1% yeast extract, 1% NaCl with shaking at 120 rpm at 37° C. for 2 hr. The transformed  B. subtilis  cells were selected by screening colonies on LB agar plates containing 10 μg/mL tetracycline. 
     Optimization of HP-NAP Expression in  B. subtilis    
     The selected  B. subtilis  DB104 colony containing pRPA-NAP ( B. subtilis  DB104-pRPA-NAP) was grown in LB medium supplemented with 10 μg/mL tetracycline at 37° C. overnight with rotary shaking at 150 rpm. This overnight culture was then inoculated into LB medium supplemented with 10 μg/mL tetracycline in a volume ratio of 1% in several sterile flasks, and the resulting cultures were grown at 37° C. for 3 to 24 hr with rotary shaking at 180 rpm. The growth of the above cultures was measured in terms of absorption spectra at 600 nm by U-2800 UV-VIS spectrophotometer (Hitachi, Tokyo, Japan). In the meantime, the same cultures were harvested by centrifugation, and the cell pellets were resuspended in an equal culture volume of 20 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, and 50 mM NaCl with 0.13 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF), 10.67 μg/mL N-alpha-tosyl-L-lysinyl-chloromethylketone (TLCK), and 10.67 μg/mL N-tosyl-L-phenylalaninyl-chloromethylketone (TPCK). The bacterial suspensions were subsequently disrupted by ultrasonication and the cell lysates of  B. subtilis  were analyzed by 15% SDS-PAGE. 
     Large-Scale Expression of Recombinant HP-NAP in  B. subtilis    
     The overnight culture of  B. subtilis  DB104-pRPA-NAP with absorbance of 2.0 to 2.1 at 600 nm was inoculated into LB medium with supplemented 10 μg/mL tetracycline in a volume ratio of 1%. The resulting culture was then grown at 37° C. with rotary shaking at 180 rpm until the absorbance at 600 nm reached 1.4 to 1.6. Afterwards, the cells were harvested by centrifugation at 6,000×g at 4° C. for 15 min. The cell pellets were subsequently stored frozen at −70° C. until purification. 
     Large-Scale Expression of Recombinant HP-NAP in  E. coli    
     Expression of recombinant HP-NAP in  E. coli  was performed as previously described (Wang et al., 2008). 
     Lysis of  B. subtilis  and  E. coli    
     The cell pellets of  B. subtilis  and  E. coli  were lysed by either ultrasonication or by high pressure homogenization. For ultrasonication, the bacterial suspensions were resuspended in an equal culture volume of indicated buffer and then disrupted by an ultrasonic processor SONICS VCX-750 (Sonics &amp; Materials, Newtown, Conn.) on ice with 20% amplitude, independent ON and OFF pulse cycles of 1 second, and processing time of 5 min. For high pressure homogenization, the bacterial suspensions were resuspended in 1/10 culture volume of indicated buffer and then disrupted by a high pressure homogenizer (Avestin Inc., Ottawa, Canada) at 15,000 psi for 3 passes. 
     Optimization of purification of recombinant HP-NAP expressed in  B. subtilis  and  E. coli  by a batch method 
     The cell pellets of either  B. subtilis  DB104-pRPA-NAP or  E. coli  BL21(DE3) cells harboring pET42a-NAP (Wang et al., 2008) obtained from large-scale expression of recombinant HP-NAP were resuspended in 20 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, and 50 mM NaCl with 0.13 mM PMSF, 10.67 μg/mL TLCK, and 10.67 μg/mL TPCK. The bacterial suspension was disrupted by high pressure homogenization (Avestin Inc., Ottawa, Canada) and the cell lysates were centrifuged at 30,000×g at 4° C. for 1 hr. For experiment to optimize the buffer pH values, the supernatant was adjusted to pH 7.0, 7.5, 8.0, 8.5 and 9.0, and then was mixed with DEAE SEPHAROSE (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Sweden) and DEAE SEPHADEX A-25 (SIGMA ALDRICH, USA) resins, which were pre-equilibrated with the above Tris-buffer at the same pH as the cell lysate supernatants. For experiment to optimize the amount of proteins mixed with the resins, the supernatant was adjusted to the ratio of protein to resin ranging from 0.3 to 1.5 mg/mL with the above Tris-buffer at pH 8.0, and then was mixed with DEAE SEPHADEX A-25 resin. The above mixtures of the supernatant and resins were shaken on a rotator for 30 min at 4° C. to ensure complete protein adsorption to the resin. Then, the mixtures were centrifuged at 10,000×g at 4° C. for 30 seconds and the supernatants were collected as “unbound fractions”. An equal resin volume of Tris-buffer at the same pH as the supernatants was added onto the resins for washing. The mixtures were shaken on a rotator at 4° C. for 10 min., and then were centrifuged as described above to collect the supernatants as “wash fractions”. After five times for washing, an equal resin volume of elution buffer containing 20 mM Tris-HCl and 1 M NaCl at the same pH was added onto resins to elute proteins adsorbed on the resins. The mixtures were shaken on a rotator at 4° C. for 10 min, and then were centrifuged as described above to collect the supernatants as “bound fractions”. This elution step was repeated twice. The fractions including unbound, wash, and bound fractions were analyzed by 15% SDS-PAGE or 10% native-PAGE. 
     Purification of Recombinant HP-NAP in  B. subtilis    
     The cell pellets of  B. subtilis  DB104-pRPA-NAP obtained from large-scale expression of recombinant HP-NAP were resuspended in 20 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, and 50 mM NaCl with 0.13 mM PMSF, 10.67 μg/mL TLCK, and 10.67 μg/mL TPCK. The bacterial suspension was disrupted by high pressure homogenizer and the cell lysate was centrifuged at 30,000×g at 4° C. for 1 hr. The supernatant was then loaded onto the XK 26/20 column (GE Healthcare Bio-Sciences, Sweden) prepacked with DEAE SEPHADEX A-25 resin, which was pre-equilibrated with 20 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, and 50 mM NaCl, by using ÄKTAprime system (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Sweden). The flow rate was 1 mL/min and the column temperature was set at 4° C. The flow-through was collected in 3-mL fractions. The column was then washed with two column volumes (CVs) of 20 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, and 50 mM NaCl at a flow rate of 5 mL/min. The volume of each collected fraction was 5 mL for the first CV and 10 mL for the second CV of the wash step. Finally, the proteins adsorbed on DEAE SEPHADEX resins were eluted with 2 CVs of 20 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, and 1 M NaCl at the same flow rate and the eluate was collected in 10-mL fractions. The flow-through, wash, and elution fractions were analyzed by 15% SDS-PAGE. The flow-through fractions containing HP-NAP were then concentrated by using a stirred ultrafiltration cell (Aminco, model 8050) equipped with an Ultracel regenerated cellulose YM-30 membrane. During the concentration, the buffer was exchanged to Dulbecco&#39;s phosphate buffered saline (D-PBS), pH 7.2. HP-NAP was then filtered through an ACRODISC with Mustang E membrane (Pall, N.Y., USA) to eliminate the possible endotoxin contamination during the purification. The amount of endotoxin was less than 3.29 endotoxin unit (EU)/mg of HP-NAP. In addition to SDS-PAGE, purified recombinant HP-NAP was routinely subjected to gel filtration and native-PAGE analyses to confirm its multimeric properties. 
     Purification of Recombinant HP-NAP in  E. coli    
     The cell pellets of  E. coli  BL21(DE3) cells harboring pET42a-NAP obtained from large-scale expression of recombinant HP-NAP were resuspended in 20 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, and 50 mM NaCl with 0.13 mM PMSF, 10.67 μg/mL TLCK, and 10.67 μg/mL TPCK. The bacterial suspension was disrupted by high pressure homogenizer and the cell lysate was centrifuged at 30,000×g at 4° C. for 1 hr. The supernatant was mixed with DEAE SEPHADEX A-25 resin, which pre-equilibrated with 20 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, and 50 mM NaCl. The mixture of supernatant and resin was shaken on a rotator at 4° C. for 1 hr. Then, the supernatant/resin slurry was transferred into an empty column and the flow-through was collected by gravity. The column was washed with five CVs of 20 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, and 50 mM NaCl. Finally, the proteins adsorbed on DEAE SEPHADEX resins were eluted with 3 CVs of 20 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, and 1 M NaCl. The volume of each collected fraction was 2 mL for the wash and elution steps. The flow-through, wash, and elution fractions were analyzed by 15% SDS-PAGE. The flow-through fraction containing HP-NAP was dialyzed against 1 L of D-PBS, pH 7.2, at 4° C. for 2 hr, and again dialyzed overnight with fresh D-PBS, using Spectra/Por dialysis tubing (Spectrum Laboratories, Rancho Dominguez, Calif., USA) with molecular weight cutoff at 12 to 14 kDa. HP-NAP was then filtered through an ACRODISC with Mustang E membrane (Pall, N.Y., USA) to eliminate the possible endotoxin contamination during the purification. The amount of endotoxin was less than 2.22 endotoxin unit (EU)/mg of HP-NAP. In addition to SDS-PAGE, purified recombinant HP-NAP was routinely subjected to gel filtration and native-PAGE analyses to confirm its multimeric properties. 
     Gel Filtration Analysis 
     A volume of 500 μL of the purified recombinant HP-NAP at 0.3 mg/mL was applied onto a HiLoad 16/60 SUPERDEX 200 prep grade column (GE Healthcare Bio-Sciences, Sweden), which was pre-equilibrated with D-PBS, pH 7.2, by using ÄKTA FPLC (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Sweden) and analyzed as previously described (Wang et al., 2008). A volume of 200 μL, of standard proteins for gel filtration (Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc., Hercules, Canada) was applied to the same column to evaluate the molecular weight of recombinant HP-NAP. 
     Analytical Ultracentrifugation 
     The sedimentation velocity experiment was performed on a Beckman Coulter ProteomeLab™ XL-I analytical ultracentrifuge equipped with UV absorbance optical detection system. Purified HP-NAP at a concentration of 0.3 mg/mL and D-PBS, pH 7.2, as a reference both in a volume of 500 μL were centrifuged at 135,556×g (41,000 rpm) and at a temperature of 20° C. using a 12-mm aluminum double-sector centerpiece in a four-hole An60 Ti analytical rotor equilibrated to 20° C. The UV absorbance data were collected at a wavelength of 280 nm in the radial increment of 0.003 cm with a single reading at each radius and at 3-min time intervals for each scan. The sedimentation coefficient distribution, c(s), and the calculated molecular weight of HP-NAP were calculated by the software SEDFIT. 
     Circular Dichroism Spectroscopy 
     Recombinant HP-NAP, with a concentration of ˜0.3 mg/mL, in D-PBS, pH 7.2, was subjected to circular dichroism (CD) analysis. The CD spectra were recorded on AVIV 62A DS spectrometer (AVIV Biomedical, Inc., Lakewood, N.J.) with a temperature controller at 25° C. using a 1 mm path-length cuvette. The CD data was obtained from the average value of at least two scans from 260 to 195 nm with 1 nm bandwidth at 0.5 nm intervals. A reference spectrum of D-PBS, pH 7.2 was also recorded. The CD spectrum of recombinant HP-NAP was calculated by subtracting the reference spectrum. The mean residue ellipticity (MRE) in the far UV was calculated with the formula: MRE=θ/(10×L×C×N), where the θ, L, C, and N are the measured signal in millidegrees, path-length of the cuvette, molar concentration of the protein, and number of peptide bond, respectively. 
     Isolation of Human Neutrophils 
     Human blood was collected from healthy volunteers under signed consent in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approval from the Institutional Review Board of the National Tsing Hua University (NTHU), Hsinchu, Taiwan. A volume of 10 mL peripheral venous blood was drawn in vacuum blood collection tubes with sodium heparin. Heparinized blood was mixed with an equal volume of 3% dextran in 0.9% saline solutions and incubated at room temperature for 20 min to sediment erythrocytes. After dextran sedimentation, the leukocyte-rich plasma was centrifuged at 250×g at 5° C. for 10 min, and then the leukocyte suspension was layered onto Ficoll-Paque PLUS (GE Healthcare Bio-Sciences AS (Uppsala, Sweden)) followed by centrifugation at 400×g for 40 min at 20° C. with no brake. The pellet rich in polymorphonuclear cells was preserved and erythrocytes contaminated in the pellet were removed by hypotonic lysis. The cell pellet was then resuspended in 2 mL ice-cold D-PBS containing 5 mM D-glucose (D-PBS-G) and kept on ice until use within 5 hr. The final cell suspension, as judged by light microscopic examination at 400× magnification of at least 700 cells on Liu&#39;s stained cytocentrifuged slides, contained &gt;90% neutrophils with a viability exceeding 92% as gauged by trypan blue exclusion test. 
     Oxidative Burst Assay 
     Isolated human neutrophils were resuspended at 2×10 6  cells/mL in D-PBS, pH 7.2, with 0.5 mM D-glucose (D-PBS-G). Aliquots of 50 μL of cell suspension were dispensed into individual wells of a 96-well black plate (Nunc, N.Y., USA) with a flat bottom and the cells were incubated at 37° C. Subsequently, 150 μL of the mixture containing 0.9 mM CaCl 2 , 0.5 mM MgCl 2 , 0.27 μM H 2 DCFH-DA, and individual stimulus in the D-PBS (SIGMA ALDRICH, USA) was added into each well to a final volume of 200 mL. H 2 DCFH-DA and PMA were dissolved in methanol and DMSO at concentrations of 10 mM and 0.2 mM as the stock solutions, respectively. Both of them were diluted into D-PBS containing 0.9 mM CaCl 2  and 0.5 mM MgCl 2  immediately before use. The final concentrations of recombinant HP-NAP, PMA and H 2 DCFH-DA were 1, 0.08 μM and 0.2 μM, respectively. The fluorescence emission at 538 nm was monitored in triplicate every 30 min for 5 hr by a microplate fluorometer. 
     Miscellaneous Methods 
     Protein concentrations were routinely analyzed by the Bradford method using a commercial dye preparation (Bio-Rad, Hercules, Calif.), and bovine serum albumin (BSA) was used as a standard. The native-PAGE was performed similar to SDS-PAGE except that the protein samples were supplemented with non-denaturing sample buffer containing 62.5 mM Tris-HCl, pH 6.8, 10% glycerol, and 0.01% bromophenol blue and that electrophoresis was performed at 4° C. using Tris-glycine system without SDS. The amount of endotoxin was determined by Super Laboratory Company (Taipei, Taiwan) using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with the detection limit of 0.005 to 2 EU/mL. 
     Statistical Analysis 
     The percentage purity of HP-NAP was calculated from the intensity of protein bands on SDS-PAGE as follows: purity (%)=(intensity of HP-NAP)/(intensity of HP-NAP+intensities of impurity)×100. The intensity of protein bands was quantified by densitometry analysis using multi gauge software V3.0 (Fujifilm, Japan). Data are represented as the mean±standard deviation (S.D.). Statistical analyses were performed by using Excel 2010 software (Microsoft). The statistical significance was determined by Student&#39;s t-test. A probability (p) value of less than 0.05 was considered to represent statistical significance. 
     Embodiment 1 
     Expression of Recombinant HP-NAP in  B. subtilis  and  E. coli    
     To avoid the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) contamination, we employed the  B. subtilis  DB 104 expression system to express HP-NAP. The nap gene was cloned into pRPA expression vector, and then transformed into  B. subtilis  DB104 for protein expression ( FIG. 1 ). Since the induction procedure is not required for protein expression in this  B. subtilis  expression system, it is important to determine the optimal culture time to achieve the maximal expression of recombinant HP-NAP. Here, we first monitored the growth of  B. subtilis  DB104 with or without harboring pRPA-NAP. It took 12 hr for  B. subtilis  DB104 harboring pRPA-NAP to reach the stationary phase and only 9 hr for  B. subtilis  DB104 (data not shown). The amount of recombinant HP-NAP expressed in  B. subtilis  at each culture time was further analyzed by SDS-PAGE. At all culture time points, the protein with a molecular weight of approximate 17 kDa corresponding to recombinant HP-NAP was expressed in  B. subtilis  harboring pRPA-NAP ( FIG. 2 ). The maximum level of HP-NAP expression was achieved around 15 hr incubation ( FIG. 2 ). No expression of HP-NAP was observed in  B. subtilis  DB104 ( FIG. 2 ). Furthermore, the recombinant HP-NAP expressed in  B. subtilis  was mainly present in the soluble fraction of the cell lysate as analyzed by SDS-PAGE ( FIG. 3A ). Native-PAGE analysis of the soluble fraction of the cell lysate showed that a major protein with apparent molecular weight of a little bit over 232 kDa corresponding to recombinant HP-NAP was present in  B. subtilis  harboring pRPA-NAP but not in the  B. subtilis  DB104 ( FIG. 3B ). These results indicate that the recombinant HP-NAP expressed in  B. subtilis  as a soluble multimeric protein. 
     In addition, the expression of recombinant HP-NAP in  E. coli  is shown in previous report (Wang et al. 2008). 
     Embodiment 2 
     Purification of Recombinant HP-NAP Expressed in  B. Subtilis  by One-Step DEAE Anion-Exchange Chromatography 
     Due to the large molecular size of HP-NAP, gel filtration has been applied to purify recombinant HP-NAP expressed in  E. coli  (Wang et al., 2008). However, it is time-consuming and more than one chromatographic method is needed for purifying HP-NAP with high purity. In addition, several protein bands originated from  B. subtilis  with the molecular weight between 140 kDa and 232 kDa were detected in the soluble fraction of  B. subtilis  expressing HP-NAP analyzed by native-PAGE ( FIG. 3B ). It might be difficult to separate the recombinant HP-NAP from these proteins by applying gel filtration. Since the isoelectric point (pI) of HP-NAP was reported to be 6.75 (Tonello et al., 1999), we chose DEAE anion-exchange chromatography to purify recombinant HP-NAP expressed in  B. subtilis  using the buffer with pH value higher than 6.75. To optimize the purification condition, five different buffer pH values, 7.0, 7.5, 8.0, 8.5, and 9.0, in combination with either DEAE SEPHADEX or DEAE SEPHAROSE resins were tested for their feasibility to purify recombinant HP-NAP in  B. subtilis  by using a small-scale batch method. At pH 7.5 to 9.0, recombinant HP-NAP was mainly present in the unbound fractions and reached a high degree of purity using DEAE SEPHADEX ( FIG. 4 ) and DEAE SEPHAROSE ( FIG. 5 ) resins. Under the same conditions, recombinant HP-NAP was also found in the wash fractions by native-PAGE analysis ( FIGS. 4 and 5 ). At pH 7.0, majority of recombinant HP-NAP was detected in the bound fractions for both resins ( FIGS. 4 and 5 ). However, most of the proteins originated from  B. subtilis  were present in the bound fractions for both resins regardless of the pH values investigated ( FIGS. 4 and 5 ). Under all five pH values, recombinant HP-NAP kept its multimeric structure ( FIGS. 4 and 5 ). This finding raises the possibility that the recombinant HP-NAP might be able to be purified from the unbound fraction rather than the bound fraction, as traditionally applied for ion-exchange chromatography. When the purities of the recombinant HP-NAP in the unbound fractions of the two resins were compared, DEAE SEPHADEX resins showed better performance than DEAE SEPHAROSE resins in purification of recombinant HP-NAP at pH 7.5 to 9.0 ( FIGS. 4 and 5 ). Thus, negative chromatography could be applied to isolate highly pure recombinant HP-NAP from  B. subtilis  through the collection of the unbound fractions using DEAE SEPHADEX resins at pH 7.5 to 9.0. 
     To develop a strategy by using negative chromatography to purify recombinant HP-NAP expressed in  B. subtilis  in one step, we then applied the small-scale batch method to determine the optimal amount of proteins from whole cell lysate of  B. subtilis  DB 104-pRPA-NAP to be loaded onto DEAE SEPHADEX and DEAE SEPHAROSE resins at pH 8.0 to obtain a maximum amount of highly pure recombinant HP-NAP. In this experiment, the ratio ranging from 0.5 to 1.3 of mg proteins from whole cell lysates per milliliter of DEAE SEPHADEX and DEAE SEPHAROSE resins were used to examine whether most of the proteins originated from  B. subtilis  were bound to the resins. As expected, the recombinant HP-NAP was still remained in the unbound fractions under these conditions ( FIG. 6 ). However, the endogenous proteins from  B. subtilis  were gradually increased in the wash fractions when the ratio of protein to resin increased to 0.9 to 1.3 mg/mL ( FIG. 6 ). Even though most of the endogenous proteins from  B. subtilis  were present in the bound fractions, the binding of these proteins to the resins had achieved the maximum level with the ratio of protein to resin ranging from 0.7 to 1.3 mg/mL ( FIG. 6 ). These results indicated that the optimal loading ratio of the amount of proteins from whole cell lysates to the volume of DEAE SEPHADEX and DEAE SEPHAROSE resins should be below 0.7 mg/mL at pH 8.0. 
     In conclusion, the amount of protein to be loaded on to DEAE SEPHADEX resins to purify HP-NAP from  B. subtilis  should be less than 0.7 mg protein/mL resins, and the amount of protein to be loaded on to DEAE SEPHAROSE resins to purify HP-NAP from  B. subtilis  should be less than 0.7 mg protein/mL resins to achieve the highest purity. 
     We then applied this negative chromatography approach to purify the recombinant HP-NAP expressed in  B. subtilis  using DEAE SEPHADEX column at pH 8.0 by keeping the ratio of protein to resin below 0.7 mg/mL. As expected, recombinant HP-NAP was present in the flow-through fractions ( FIG. 7 , asterisk of the inset). Most of the endogenous proteins from  B. subtilis  were bound to DEAE SEPHADEX resins and then eluted under the high salt condition ( FIG. 7 ). After the flow-through fractions containing recombinant HP-NAP were concentrated, coupled with a simultaneous buffer exchange using ultrafiltration membrane with a higher-molecular-weight cutoff, the purity of recombinant HP-NAP was further increased ( FIG. 8A ). The purified HP-NAP was expressed as a multimeric protein with molecular weight of around 232 kDa by native-PAGE analysis ( FIG. 8B ). The details of a typical purification of recombinant HP-NAP from  B. subtilis  are summarized in Table 1. Since the purity of recombinant HP-NAP was greatly elevated to 94.33% after the step of ion-exchange chromatography using DEAE SEPHADEX resins, by which a 16-fold purification with a 63% recovery was achieved, supporting that such negative chromatography approach was an efficient step in the purification procedure. Concentration and buffer exchange did not affect the yield of recombinant HP-NAP, whereas removal of endotoxin reduced the overall yield of ˜5.8% (Table 1). The final yield of the pure recombinant HP-NAP was ranging from 1.3 mg to 1.5 mg per gram of  B. subtilis  cell paste. The overall purity of HP-NAP was higher than 92% in the preparations using this purification procedure. Thus, recombinant HP-NAP can be efficiently purified from  B. subtilis  by one-step negative chromatography using DEAE SEPHADEX anion-exchange resins. 
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Purification summary table of recombinant HP-NAP from  B. subtilis   a   
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 Estimated 
                 Recovery 
               
               
                   
                 Amount of 
                   
                   
                 amount of 
                 of 
               
               
                   
                 protein 
                 Volume 
                 Purity 
                 HP-NAP 
                 HP-NAP 
               
               
                 Purification step 
                 (mg) b   
                 (mL) 
                 (%) c   
                 (mg) d   
                 (%) e   
               
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                 Whole cell lysate 
                 45.09 
                 27 
                 4.94 
                 2.23 
                 100 
               
               
                 Supernatant 
                 38.07 
                 27 
                 5.64 
                 2.15 
                 96.41 
               
               
                 DEAE SEPHADEX 
                 1.44 
                 36 
                 94.33 
                 1.36 
                 60.99 
               
               
                 chromatography 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 Stirred 
                 1.44 
                 4.8 
                 95.38 
                 1.37 
                 61.43 
               
               
                 ultrafiltration 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 ACRODISC syringe 
                 1.3 
                 4.65 
                 95.37 
                 1.24 
                 55.61 
               
               
                 filtration 
               
               
                   
               
               
                   a 0.84 g of  B. subtilis  cell paste from 300 mL culture. 
               
               
                   b Values determined by Bradford method with BSA as the reference. 
               
               
                   c Values determined from densitometry measurement by using multi gauge V3.0 software. 
               
               
                   d Values determined by multiplying the values in “Amount of protein” and “Purity” columns 
               
               
                   e Values determined by dividing the estimated amount of HP-NAP from each purification step by that of whole cell lysate. 
               
             
          
         
       
     
     In conclusion, using DEAE SEPHADEX resins, HP-NAP can be purified from  B. subtilis  at pH 7.5 to 9.0 by collection of the unbound fraction and the wash fraction in one-step with purity higher than 90%. Additionally, using DEAE SEPHAROSE resins, HP-NAP can be purified from  B. subtilis  at pH 7.5 to 9.0 by collection of the unbound fraction and/or the wash fraction in one-step with the similar purity. 
     Embodiment 3 
     Purification of Recombinant HP-NAP Expressed in  E. coli  by One-Step DEAE Anion-Exchange Chromatography 
     In addition to purify recombinant HP-NAP expressed in  B. subtilis  by this one-step negative chromatography using DEAE SEPHADEX anion-exchange resins, the similar approach was applied to purify recombinant HP-NAP expressed in  E. coli . To optimize the purification condition, five different buffer pH values, 7.0, 7.5, 8.0, 8.5 and 9.0 in combination with either DEAE SEPHADEX or DEAE SEPHAROSE resins were tested for their feasibility to purify recombinant HP-NAP in  E. coli  by using a small-scale batch method. At pH 7.5 to 9.0, recombinant HP-NAP was mainly present in the unbound and wash fractions, and reached a high degree of purity using DEAE SEPHADEX ( FIG. 9 ) or DEAE SEPHAROSE ( FIG. 10 ) resins. At pH 7.0, majority of recombinant HP-NAP was detected in the bound fractions for both resins ( FIGS. 9 and 10 ). However, most of the proteins originated from  E. coli  were present in the bound fractions for both resins regardless of the pH values investigated ( FIGS. 9 and 10 ). Under all five pH values, recombinant HP-NAP kept its multimeric structure. ( FIGS. 9 and 10 ). These findings are consistent with the findings in the Embodiment 2, in which  B. subtilis  expression system was used to express HP-NAP. Thus, the recombinant HP-NAP expressed in  E. coli  should be able to be purified from the unbound and wash fractions rather than the bound fraction. When the purities of the recombinant HP-NAP in the unbound and wash fractions isolated by the two resins were compared, DEAE SEPHAROSE resins showed better performance than DEAE SEPHADEX resins in purification of recombinant HP-NAP at pH 7.5 to 9.0. However, for both resins, the purity is higher than 90% through the collection of the unbound and wash fractions. 
     To develop a strategy by using negative chromatography to purify recombinant HP-NAP expressed in  E. coli  in one step, we then applied the small-scale batch method to determine the optimal amount of proteins from whole cell lysate of  E. coli  to be loaded onto DEAE SEPHADEX and SEPHAROSE resins at pH 8.0 to obtain a maximum amount of highly pure recombinant HP-NAP. In this experiment, the ratio ranging from 0.3 to 1.5 mg proteins from whole cell lysates per milliliter of DEAE SEPHADEX and SEPHAROSE resins were used to examine whether most of the proteins originated from  E. coli  were bound to the resins. As expected, the recombinant HP-NAP was still remained in the unbound fractions under these conditions ( FIG. 11 ). Even though both recombinant HP-NAP and the endogenous proteins from  E. coli  were gradually increased in the bound fractions when the ratio of protein to resin increased to 0.3 to 1.5 mg/mL, most of recombinant HP-NAP was present in the unbound and wash fractions with purity higher than 90% ( FIG. 11 ). These results indicated that the optimal loading ratio of the amount of proteins from whole cell lysates to the volume of DEAE SEPHADEX and SEPHAROSE resins could achieve up to 1.5 mg/mL at pH 8.0. 
     We then applied this negative purification approach to purify the recombinant HP-NAP expressed in  E. coli  using DEAE SEPHADEX resins at pH 8.0 by keeping the ratio of protein to resin at 1.5 mg/mL by batch method. As expected, recombinant HP-NAP was present in the flow-through fractions ( FIG. 12A ). The purified HP-NAP was expressed as a multimeric protein with molecular weight of around 232 kDa by native-PAGE analysis ( FIG. 12B ). Since the concentration of recombinant HP-NAP in the flow-through fraction is high enough, the flow-through fraction was subjected to dialysis for buffer exchange. The details of a typical purification of recombinant HP-NAP from  E. coli  are summarized in Table 2. Since the purity of recombinant HP-NAP was greatly elevated to 91.73% after the step of ion-exchange chromatography using DEAE SEPHADEX resin, by which a 1.3-fold purification with a 90% recovery was achieved, supporting that such negative purification approach was an efficient step in the purification procedure. Dialysis for buffer-exchange did not affect the yield of recombinant HP-NAP, whereas removal of endotoxin reduced the overall yield of ˜1.4% (Table 2). The final yield of the pure recombinant HP-NAP was 177 mg per gram of  E. coli  cell paste and the purity of HP-NAP was ˜91%. Thus, recombinant HP-NAP can be efficiently purified from  E. coli  by one-step negative purification using DEAE SEPHADEX anion-exchange resin by batch method. 
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 2 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Purification summary table of recombinant HP-NAP from  E. coli   a   
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 Estimated 
                 Recovery 
               
               
                   
                 Amount of 
                   
                   
                 amount of 
                 of 
               
               
                   
                 protein 
                 Volume 
                 Purity 
                 HP-NAP 
                 HP-NAP 
               
               
                 Purification step 
                 (mg) b   
                 (mL) 
                 (%) c   
                 (mg) d   
                 (%) e   
               
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                 Whole cell lysate 
                 3.75 
                 6.7 
                 70.4 
                 2.64 
                 100 
               
               
                 Supernatant 
                 3.38 
                 6.7 
                 75.3 
                 2.54 
                 96.2 
               
               
                 DEAE SEPHADEX 
                 2.68 
                 6.3 
                 90.12 
                 2.42 
                 91.2 
               
               
                 chromatography 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 Dialysis 
                 2.70 
                 6.1 
                 90.18 
                 2.43 
                 91.9 
               
               
                 ACRODISC syringe 
                 2.60 
                 5.8 
                 91.73 
                 2.39 
                 90.5 
               
               
                 filtration 
               
               
                   
               
               
                   a 0.0135 g of  E. coli  cell paste from 100 mL culture. 
               
               
                   b Values determined by Bradford method with BSA as the reference. 
               
               
                   c Values determined from densitometry measurement by using multi gauge V3.0 software. 
               
               
                   d Values determined by multiplying the values in “Amount of protein” and “Purity” columns 
               
               
                   e Values determined by dividing the estimated amount of HP-NAP from each purification step 
               
               
                 by that of whole cell lysate. 
               
             
          
         
       
     
     In conclusion, using either DEAE SEPHADEX or SEPHAROSE resins, HP-NAP can be purified from  E. coli  at pH 7.5 to 9.0 by collection of unbound fractions and wash fraction in one-step with purity higher than 90%. 
     Embodiment 4 
     Multimeric Structure with α-Helix of HP-NAP Purified from  B. subtilis  and  E. coli    
     To further determine whether the recombinant HP-NAP purified from  B. subtilis  and  E. coli  folded into its native structure, several molecular properties of the purified HP-NAP were examined. By gel filtration analysis, purified recombinant HP-NAP was eluted as a single peak with a molecular weight of about 150 kDa in the chromatogram ( FIG. 13 ), which is consistent with previous reports (Wang et al., 2008). The sedimentation analysis further showed that the recombinant HP-NAP purified form  B. subtilis  and  E. coli  sedimented as a major peak at 9.53 S and 9.95 S, respectively, which was calculated to the molecular weight of approximate 200 kDa ( FIG. 14 ). This calculative molecular weight of HP-NAP is very close to its theoretical molecular weight of 203 kDa, suggesting that the purified HP-NAP formed a dodecameric protein. The secondary structure of purified HP-NAP was further determined by circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. The far UV trace showed a curve with characteristic of an α-helix ( FIG. 15 ). The structural and molecular properties of HP-NAP obtained in this study are similar to those shown in other reports (Table 3). Thus, the recombinant HP-NAP purified from  B. subtilis  and  E. coli  was folded in its native form as a multimeric protein with a secondary structure of α-helix. 
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 3 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Comparison of the molecular properties of HP-NAP characterized  
               
               
                 from this and other studies. 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                   
                 Sedimentation 
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                 coefficient (S)/ 
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 SDS- 
                 Gel 
                 Calculative 
                   
                 Native- 
                   
               
               
                 PAGE 
                 filtration 
                 molecular 
                 Secondary 
                 PAGE 
                   
               
               
                 (kDa) a   
                 (kDa) a   
                 weight b  (kDa) 
                 structure 
                 (kDa) a   
                 Reference 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 ~17 
                 ~150 
                 9.53/~200 
                 α-helix 
                 ~232 
                 This study 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 ( B. subtilis ) 
               
               
                 ~17 
                 ~150 
                 9.95/~200 
                 α-helix 
                 ~232 
                 This study 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 ( E. coli ) 
               
               
                 N/D c   
                 N/D c   
                 N/D c   
                 α-helix 
                 N/D c   
                 Tonello et al. 
               
               
                 ~17 
                 ~150 
                 9.38/N/D 
                 N/D 
                 ~232 
                 Wang et al. 
               
               
                   
               
               
                   a The experimental molecular weight calculated from indicated measurements. 
               
               
                   b The molecular weight calculated from sedimentation coefficient. 
               
               
                   c N/D: Not determined 
               
               
                 NOTE: 
               
               
                 The theoretical molecular weights of HP-NAP were 16.933 kDa and 203.196 kDa for its monomer and dodecamer, respectively, which were predicted from ExPASy. 
               
             
          
         
       
     
     Embodiment 5 
     The Recombinant HP-NAP Expressed in  B. subtilis  and  E. coli  Promotes ROS Production of Human Neutrophils 
     After confirming physical characteristics of purified HP-NAP, whether the purified HP-NAP was biologically active can be determined by accessing its ability to induce ROS production in human neutrophils using dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (H 2 DCF-DA), a redox-sensitive fluorescent dye. HP-NAP purified from  B. subtilis  and  E. coli  induced at least a 1.6-fold increase of ROS production in the human neutrophils ( FIG. 16 ). The results indicated that the purified HP-NAP from  B. subtilis  and  E. coli  has biological ability to stimulate the ROS production in human neutrophils. 
     Discussion 
     In the present invention,  B. subtilis  was used as an expression system for HP-NAP production to reduce LPS contamination. The  B. subtilis  expression system has also been applied for the expression of recombinant HP-NAP due to the same reason in other reports (Tonello et al., 1999, Grandi, 2006). However, the purification method of HP-NAP in those reports is different from the method applied herein. In one of the reports, most of the endogenous proteins from  B. subtilis  were eliminated by the salting-out step with 60% ammonium sulfate, and the recombinant HP-NAP was then purified by metal chelate chromatography using the nickel chelating SEPHAROSE FF column (Grandi, 2006). The method applied herein was originally designed to apply traditional DEAE anion-exchange chromatography to purify HP-NAP according to its pI value, one will expect that pure HP-NAP could be obtained by eluting the bound HP-NAP on the DEAE resins under the pH range we investigated. Surprisingly, in the pH range between 7.5 and 9.0, HP-NAP was retained in the unbound fractions ( FIGS. 4 and 5 ). It was rarely bound to DEAE resin at pH 8.0, and which has preferred result by using DEAE SEPHADEX ( FIG. 4 ). Since the findings were unexpected, we designed a process of negative chromatography by using one-step DEAE SEPHADEX anion-exchange chromatography through the collection of flow-though fractions to obtain HP-NAP, of which the purity was higher than 94% (Table 1). The salt concentration in flow-though was low. Thus, it is not necessary to remove the salt from the purified HP-NAP. However, the concentration of the purified HP-NAP existed in flow-through is also low. We have used the ultrafiltration membrane with pore size of 30 kDa to concentrate HP-NAP. This step can filter proteins smaller than 30 kDa and thus achieve even higher purity of HP-NAP ( FIG. 8 ). 
     In another embodiment of the present invention, the similar purification method using DEAE ion-exchange resins was applied to purify recombinant HP-NAP expressed in  E. coli . In the pH range between 7.5 and 9.0, most of HP-NAP was retained in unbound and wash fractions but little of HP-NAP was bound to DEAE SEPHADEX and SEPHAROSE resins. HP-NAP was rarely bound to DEAE resin at pH 8.0, and which has preferred result by using DEAE SEPHADEX and SEPHAROSE resins ( FIGS. 9 and 10 ). The purity of HP-NAP was raised by more than 90% through the collection of the unbound and wash fractions at pH 7.5 to 9.0. This result was similar to recombinant HP-NAP expressed in  B. subtilis  purified by the same range of pH values. When a process of negative purification using DEAE SEPHADEX anion-exchange resin by batch method was designed to purify HP-NAP from  E. coli  expression system, we have obtained recombinant HP-NAP with purity higher than 90% in one step (Table 2). Due to the high level of recombinant HP-NAP expressed in  E. coli  as compared to that in  B. subtilis , the step of concentration is not necessary. If there is no need for buffer exchange, the step of dialysis can also be omitted to shorten the time for the purification process. 
     Although the present invention is described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims. 
     REFERENCES 
     
         
         Grandi, G (2006) Enrichment Process for  H. pylori  Neutrophil Activating Protein (NAP) Utilizing Metal Chelate Chromatography. Italy, Chiron SRL. U.S. Pat. No. 7,038,012: 1-21. 
         Kawamura F and Doi R H (1984) Construction of a  Bacillus subtilis  double mutant deficient in extracellular alkaline and neutral proteases.  J. Bacteriol.  160: 442-444. 
         Tonello F, Dundon W G, Satin B, Molinari M, Tognon G, Grandi G, Del Giudice G, Rappuoli R, and Montecucco C (1999) The  Helicobacter pylori  neutrophil-activating protein is an iron-binding protein with dodecameric structure.  Mol. Microbiol.  34, 238-246. 
         Wang C A, Liu Y C, Du S Y, Lin C W, and Fu H W (2008)  Helicobacter pylori  neutrophil-activating protein promotes myeloperoxidase release from human neutrophils.  Biochem Biophys Res Commun.  377, 52-56. 
         Yeh C. M., Wang J. P., and Su F. S. (2005) Improved electro-transformation protocol for  Bacillus subtilis  DB104 . Taiwanese J Agri Chem Food Sci,  43, 368-375. 
         Yeh, C. M., Su, F. S., Wang, J. P., Liao, Y. Y. and Tsai, Y C. (2007) Enhancement of recombinant subtilisin YaB production by  Bacillus subtilis. Food Biotechnol.  21, 105-117.

Technology Classification (CPC): 2