Immobilization of protein kinase C into cypovirus polyhedra

Abstract

Certain insect viruses produce stable infectious micro-crystals called polyhedra which function to protect the virus after the death of infected larvae. Polyhedra form within infected cells and contain numerous virus particles embedded in the crystalline lattice of the viral protein polyhedrin. We have previously demonstrated a novel protein engineering technology for the immobilization of protein molecules into Bombyx mori cypovirus (BmCPV) polyhedra. In addition, polyhedra containing foreign proteins have been shown to be highly stable and able to maintain the function of immobilized proteins. In this study, protein kinase C (PKC) was immobilized into polyhedra by using two types of immobilization signals. One immobilization signal was developed by the identification of the BmCPV virus occlusion mechanism into the polyhedra. Another immobilization signal was identified by the atomic structural analysis of the BmCPV polyhedrin. After PKC was fused each with an immobilization signal, the recombinant PKC was immobilized into polyhedra and the enzymatic activities were assayed. These results showed that the activity of PKC immobilized into polyhedra has been maintained and compared with commercially used PKC.