Recombinant production of Yersinia enterocolitica pyruvate kinase isoenzymes PykA and PykF

The glycolytic enzyme pyruvate kinase (PK) generates ATP from ADP through substrate-level phosphorylation powered by the conversion of phosphoenolpyruvate to pyruvate. In contrast to other bacteria, Enterobacteriaceae, such as pathogenic yersiniae, harbour two pyruvate kinases encoded by pykA and pykF. The individual roles of these isoenzymes are poorly understood. In an attempt to make the Yersinia enterocolitica pyruvate kinases PykA and PykF amenable to structural and functional characterisation, we produced them untagged in Escherichia coli and purified them to near homogeneity through a combination of ion exchange and size exclusion chromatography, yielding more than 180 mg per litre of batch culture. The solution structure of PykA and PykF was analysed through small angle X-ray scattering which revealed the formation of PykA and PykF tetramers and confirmed the binding of the allosteric effector fructose-1,6-bisphosphate (FBP) to PykF but not to PykA.

► High-level expression and purification of Yersinia enterocolitica pyruvate kinase isoenzymes PykA and PykF.
► Efficient two-step purification without any affinity tag.
► Formation of PykA and PykF tetramers confirmed by SAXS.