Expression of fluorescent tagged recombinant erythroferrone protein

Objective: To produce fluorescent tagged recombinant erythroferrone protein (ERFE-eGFP) for laboratory investigations. Methods: Erythroferrone (ERFE) gene was fused to green fluorescent protein (eGFP) gene and cloned in a pSecTag2Hygro plasmid. The constructed plasmid was amplified in Escherichia coli DH5 α and the eGFP-fused ERFE (ERFE-eGFP) protein was expressed in human embryonic kidney (HEK293T) cell line. Results: The plasmid constructed from colony C6 contained ERFE-eGFP with the correct restriction sizes of 4.2 kb and expressed secretory ERFE-eGFP fusion protein (approximately size of 75 kDa) in HEK293T cell line. Conclusions: ERFE-eGFP recombinant protein is successfully expressed as a secretory functional protein and could be sensitively detected using fluorometry. This fusion protein might benefit future applications for localization of cellular ERFE receptors and competitive immunoassay of ERFE concentration. © 2018 by the Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine.