Purification, characterization, and crystallization of membrane bound Escherichia coli tyrosine kinase

• Active, full length E. coli tyrosine kinase (Etk) can be expressed and purified.
• Small molecule additives can improve the in vitro behavior of Etk.
• Truncation of Etk enables crystallization of the periplasmic domain.
• Detergent choice in crucial for protein stability and crystallization.

Escherichia coli tyrosine kinase (Etk) is a membrane bound kinase in gram-negative bacteria that regulates the export of capsular polysaccharides (CPS). The molecular mechanism behind CPS regulation remains unclear, despite access to a crystal structure of the cytoplasmic kinase domain of Etk. In this study, an efficient protocol to produce full length Etk solubilized in n-dodecyl-β-d-maltoside has been established with high yield. We have determined that detergent solubilized Etk retains kinase activity, but the protein is prone to aggregation, degradation, and has been unsuccessful in protein crystallization trials. In response, we designed and characterized truncations of Etk that do not aggregate and have led to successful crystallization experiments. In this article, we discuss our optimized expression and purification protocol for Etk, the design of Etk protein truncations, and the behavior of Etk during purification in a range of stabilizing detergents. These efforts have successfully produced protein suitable for crystallization. Our results will be a useful guide for future structural and functional studies of the bacterial tyrosine kinase family.