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Secretory expression of a heterologous nattokinase in Lactococcus lactis

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Abstract

Nattokinase has been reported as an oral health product for the prevention of atherosclerosis. We developed a novel strategy to express a nattokinase from Bacillus subtilis in a live delivery vehicle, Lactococcus lactis. Promoter PnisZ and signal peptide SPUsp were used for inducible and secretory expression of nattokinase in L. lactis. Western blotting analysis demonstrated that nattokinase was successfully expressed, and about 94% of the enzyme was secreted to the culture. The recombinant nattokinase showed potent fibrinolytic activity, equivalent to 41.7 urokinase units per milliliter culture. Expression and delivery of such a fibrinolytic enzyme in the food-grade vehicle L. lactis would facilitate the widespread application of nattokinase in the control and prevention of thrombosis diseases.

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Acknowledgment

This project was funded by the Top Field Program of Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences: KSCXZ-SW-113.

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Correspondence to Jin Zhong or Liandong Huan.

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Liang, X., Zhang, L., Zhong, J. et al. Secretory expression of a heterologous nattokinase in Lactococcus lactis . Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 75, 95–101 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-006-0809-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-006-0809-4

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