AU605757B2 - Preparation of factor XIIIa by gene manipulation - Google Patents

Abstract

A DNA sequence (I) coding for factor XIIIa is new. It contains a coding strand with about 3900 bases; the complete structure of this sequence, and of the corresponding amino acid sequence, are reproduced in the specification. Also new are (1) gene structures, vectors and transformed cells contg. (I); (2) crude proteins expressed by (I), transformed cells and (3) antibodies (Ab) specific for factor XIIIa.

Description

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA PATENTS ACT 1952-69 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (OR IGIN AL F~ormi Application Number: 67~ k'96/'7.

Lodged: Complete Specification Lodged: Accepted: Published: Priority: Class This document contains the1 amendments made under Section 49 and is correct for pinting.

Int. Class Related Art:- 0 $3 $3 $3 $30 $3 $3 0 $3 of Applicant:

C

$3 $30 $3 $3 C BEHRINGWERKE AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT Address of Applicant D-3550 Marburg, Federal Republic of Germany Inventor: *Address for Service: ULRICH GRUNDMANN, EGON AMANN an~d GERD ZETTLMEIBL.

EDWD. WATERS SONS, 50 QUEEN STREET, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, 3000.

Complete Specification for the invention entitled: 0:450PREPARATION OF FACTOR Xllla BY GENE MANIPULATION The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to:-u a 1 41 It; 4 6 66 6 ri

I

6 *6 6 6; 6 4I 6 6 6 la BEHRINGWERKE AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT HOE 86/B 017J Dr. KL/gm Preparation of factor XIIIa by gene manipulation Coagulation factor XIII is the final member of the "coagulation cascade" in the natural process of blood coagulation in vertebrates. The enzymaticaLLy active form of factor XIII, factor XIIIa, also called "activated fibrin-stabilizing factor", "fibrinoligase" or "plasma transglutaminase" and, hereinafter, "F XIIIa", catalyzes the fusion of fibrin units in preexistent thrombi by intramolecular crosslinking (Lorand et al., Methods in Enzymology 80 (1981), 333-341; Curtis et al., Annals New York Academy of Sciences 1983, 567-576). The molecular weight of factor XIII from plasma is about 300 kD (Loewy et al., J. Biol. Chem. 236 (1961) 2634). The molecular weight of the active subunit F XIIIa is about 80 kD (Bohn and Schwick, Arzneimittelforschung 21 (1971) 1432).

During the activation of factor XIII, thrombin splits off from the precursor a peptide which is about 4 kD in size and has a known sequence of 36 amino acids (Takagi and Doolittle, Biochemistry 13 (1974) 750-756). In addition, a sequence embracing four amino acids is known (Holbrook et al., Biochem. J. 135 (1973) 901-903).

The invention relates to a process for the preparation of F XIIIa by gene manipulation, to the mRNA necessary for this, to the cDNA obtained therefrom, to DNA struc- 25 tures and vectors containing all or part of this cDNA, to cells transformed with DNA of this type, and to the polypeptide expressed by these cells. The invention also relates to part-sequences of the amino acid sequence of F XIIIa, to specific antibodies obtained therewith, to diagnostic aids and antibody columns produced from these antibodies, and to a polypeptide obtained with the aid of such columns. Another aspect of t'he invention relates to diagnostic aids which contain all or part of the DNA or RNA coding for F XIIIa, and to diagnostic methods with which body fluids and tissues are examined 2 using diagnostic aids of this type. Further aspects of the invention and its preferred embodiments are illustrated in detail hereinafter and defined in the patent claims.

The drawings, in which the numbers coincide with those in the examples, illustrate the invention: Fig. 1 shows the cDNA coding for F XIIIa (the coding region being shaded) and, below this, the DNA regions of the isolated and characterized clones.

Fig. 2 shows the construction of the expression plasmid pFXIII-13. For clarity, in this figure the starting plasmids pIC19H-12.1 and pIC19H-11.1, as well as the DNA fragments Located immediately beLow them, are represented by double Lines, as is the product pFXIII-13 constructed from the single-stranded fragments.

Fig. 3 is a diagram of the construction of the plasmid pTrc97A, Fig. 3a that of pFXIII-C4 from pTrc97A and pFXIII-13, and finally Fig. 3b the construction of pMB259 from pFXIII-13 and the known plasmids pIC20H and pBD2.

Fig. 4 is a diagram of the construction of the plasmid pMB240 from pFXIII-13 and the known plasmid Fig. 5 shows the construction of pZET4 from the known plasmid pSV2dhfr and the plasmid pSVA STOP1, Fig. shows the construction of pSVF13 from pSVA STOP1 and pFXIII-13, Fig. 5b shows the construction of pZF13 from 4 pZET4 and pFXIII-13, and finally Fig. 5c shows the construction of pHSF13 from pSVF13 and the known plasmid pSP6HS9.

*II(

The amino acid sequence of F XIIIa fragments was determined for the construction of suitable probes. The corresponding peptide fragments were obtained by proteolysis or cleavage with cyanogen bromide. Based on knowledge of the amino acid sequences of such fragments, two oligonucLeotide probes were synthesized, one 20mer and one 66mer.

3 In the 20mer probe all theoretically possible codons for the amino acid sequence Met-Met-Aso-ILe-Thr-Asp-Thr were taken into account, with, in the case of the Last amino acid, the third position in the codon being omitted. The 20mer probe is thus 48-foLd degenerate, i.e. a mixture of aLL 48 theoretically possibLe oLigonucLeotides coding for the said amino acid sequence (Table 1; Appendix).

The 66mer probe was seLected on the basis of the following amino acid sequence Tyr-GLy-Gln-Phe-GLu-Asp-GLy-Ile-Leu-Asp-Thr- Cys-Leu-Tyr-VaL-Met-Asp-Arg-ALa-GLn-Met-Asp and with the assistance of statisticaL data (Lathe, J.

MoLec. BioL. 183 (1985) 1-12) (Table 2, Appendix).

These probes were used to screen a cDNA bank. The cDNA was prepared from mRNA from a mature human pLacenta, the mRNA being isoLated from the latter, and the cDNA being prepared therefrom. The cDNA was provided with EcoRI S ends and Ligated into the EcoRI cleavage site of the phage vector Xgt10. A positive clone, Xgt10-12, which was identified with the abovementioned probe, was further analyzed (Fig. 1 The sequencing, by methods known per se, resulted in the DNA sequence which codes Sfor F XIIIa.

Rescreening of the cDNA bank with this DNA sequence resulted in isolation of further clones which expand both towards the and towards the 3'-end.

Fig. 1 shows the restriction map of the DNA sequence which codes for F XIIIa. designates the N-terminal 4 end and designates the C-terminal end of the coding region, and "A( 89 designates the poLy(A) sequence of 89 bases. This sequence represents the whole of the coding sequence of F XIIIa. Table 3 (Appendix) shows t 5 the DNA sequence found (coding strand) and, deduced therefrom, the amino acid sequence from the cloned cDNA fragments from Xgt10-11 and Xgt10-12. The total Length of the cD 1 is 3905 base-pairs. The N-terminaL sequence embracing 36 amino acids found by Takagi and DooLittLe (Loc. cit.) is present in the sequence which was found.

This sequence is indicated in TabLe 3 with an unbroken Line between nucLeotide positions 88 and 198. In addition to the sequence found by Takagi and DoolittLe, the cDNA codes for a vaLine in nucleotide positions 187-189.

The sequence embracing four amino acids found by Holbrook et al. (Loc. cit.) GLy-Gln-Cys-Trp is coded for by the cDNA in positions 1021-1032. This sequence is Likewise indicated by an unbroken line. In addition, the positions of the 20mer and 66mer oligonucleotide 20 probes are indicated by broken lines. The 20mer probe t t hybridizes between positions 1507 and 1526, and the S66mer probe hybridizes between positions 766 and 831.

It is possible according to the invention to use the coding cDNA for the preparation of modified genes which code for proteins having altered bioLogicaL properties.

It is possible for this purpose to undertake, in a manner known per se, deletions, insertions and base- Sexchanges.

It is also possible, by the choice of the host, to influence the nature of the modification to the F XIIIa.

Thus, there is no gLycosyLation in bacteria, while that taking place in yeast cells differs from that in higher eukaryotic cells.

Knowing the amino acid sequence of F XIIIa, it is possibLe to prepare, by conventional methods or gene 5 manipulation, part-sequences of amino acids which can act as antigens for the preparation of poLyclonaL or monoclonal antibodies. Such antibodies can be used not only for diagnostic purposes but also for the preparation of antibody columns with which it is possible to remove F XIIIa from solutions which contain this factor in addition to other proteins.

It is also possible, by use of the cDNA or parts thereof, straightforwardly to isolate from a genomic bank the genomic clone which codes for F XIIIa and using which it is possible not only to express it in eukaryotic cells but also to gain further diagnostic information.

F XIIIa deficiencies can result in various syndromes which, to a large extent, are attributed to the inability to convert the precursors into the active form of the enzyme. Knowledge of the cDNA of F XIIIa now permits the preparation of diagnostic aids with which it is possible straightforwardly to establish whether genetic modifications are present.

Thus, it is possible according to the invention to prepare a highly pure factor XIIIa without any risk of contamination by, for example, viruses or other proteins.

The dependence, which has existed to date, on human S plasma or placentae as source of raw material has thus been overcome. In addition, the invention allows access Sto valuable diagnostic aids and thus the analysis of genetic F XIIIa defects.

S The invention is illustrated in detail in the examples which follows. Unless otherwise stated, percentages relate to weight where they do not relate to amounts.

Apart from those explained in the text, the following abbreviations have been used: S- 6 EDTA sodium ethylenediaminetetraacetate SDS sodium dodecyL sulfate DTT dithiothreitoL BSA bovine serum albumin ExampLes: 1. Isolation of RNA from human placenta RNA was obtained from a mature human placenta (by the method of Chirgwin et al., Biochemistry 18 (1979) 5294- 5299). About 10 g of placental tissue was ground in liquid nitrogen, suspended in 80 ml of 4 M guanidinium thiocyanate containing 0.1 M mercaptoethanol and treated in a homogenizer (Ultraturrax) at 20,000 rpm for 90 sec.

The Lysate was centrifuged at 7,000 rpm for 15 min.

(SorvaLL GSA rotor) and 2 mL of 1 M acetic acid and mL of abs. ethanol were added to the supernatant, which was allowed to precipitate at -2 0 °C overnight.

After sedimentation at 6,000 rpm and -100C for 10 min, the nucleic acids were completely dissolved in 40 ml of 7.5 M guanidinium hydrochloride (pH 7.0) and precipitated with a mixture of 1 ml of 1 M acetic acid and ml of abs. ethanol. To remove the DNA the precipitation was repeated once more with half the volumes.

S'.The RNA was dissolved in 12 ml of H 2 0, precipitated with A a mixture of 1.2 ml of 4 M potassium acetate and 24 ml of abs. ethanol, sedimented and finally redissolved in S 10 ml of H 2 0 (1 ml per g tissue).

Isolation of placental mRNA containing poly(A) 4 To isolate mRNA containing poly(A), the placental RNA was fractionated by oligo(dT)-celLulose chromatography (Aviv and Leder, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 69 (1973) 1408-1412) in 2 ml Pasteur pipettes in LiCL. About 5 mg of placental RNA were applied to the column in buffer 1 (500 mM LiCL, 20 mM tris (pH 1 mM EDTA, 0.1% SDS).

7 Whereas the poly(A)+ RNA was bound to the oligo(dT)ceLlulose, the poly(A) RNA could be eluted again.

After a wash with buffer 2 (100 mM LiCL, 29 mM tris (pH 1 mM EDTA, 0.1% SDS), the poly(A)+ RNA (placental mRNA) was eLuted from the column with buffer 3 (5 mM tris (pH 1 mM EDTA, 0.05% SDS).

For further purification, the poLy(A) RNA was adjusted to buffer 1 and rechromatographed on oligo(dT)cellulose. After this second purification step, the yield of placental poly(A) RNA was about 4% of the RNA used.

Synthesis of cDNA from human placenta (placentaL cDNA) and double-stranded cDNA (dsDNA) Before the cDNA synthesis, a check that the placental mRNA containing poly<A) was intact was carried out in a agarose gel.

Then 4 pg of placental mRNA were dissolved in 65.5 p1 of

H

2 0, denatured at 700C for 10 min, and cooled again in ice. The cDNA was synthesized in a 100 pL mixture after addition of 20 p1 of RT 1 buffer (250 mM tris (pH 8.2) at 420C, 250 mM KCI, 30 mM MgCL2), 2.5 pL of 20 mM dNTP all four deoxynucLeoside triphosphates), 1 pL of 1 pg/mL oligo(dT), 1 pl of 1 M DTT, 2 pL of RNAsin and 8 pL of reverse transcriptase (24 U/ pL) at 42 0 C for 90 min.

Double-stranded cDNA (dsDNA) was synthesized by the method of Gubler and Hoffmann (Gene 25 (1983) 263-269).

The synthesis was carried out immediately after the cDNA synthesis by addition of 305.5 uL of H 2 0, 80 pl of RT 2 buffer (100 mM tris (pH 25 mM MgCL 2 500 mM KCI, mM DTT, 250 pg/mL BSA), 2 pl of RNase H (2 U/pl), p1 of E. coli DNA ligase (5 U/pl), 5 pl of 15 mM B- NAD, and 5 pL of DNA polymerase I (5 U/pl) and 8 incubation at 15 0 C for 5 h. The reaction was stopped by heat inactivation (70 0 C, 30 min).

After addition of 55 pL of 250 pM dNTP, 55 pl of 10 mM tris (pH 10 mM MgCL 2 10 jg/ml BSA, 3 pi of T4 DNA polymerase I (1 U/pL), 2 iL RNase H (2 U/pL) and 2 pL of RNase A (2 jg/ml), the reaction mixture was incubated at 37 0 C for a further 30 min in order to correct faulty syntheses of the polymerase I on the second DNA strand ("repair reaction").

Ligation of EcoRI linkers to the dsDNA, and opening of the linkers To set up a placental cDNA bank, the dsDNA was provided with EcoRI ends in order to be able to ligate it in the EcoRI cleavage site of the phage vector Xgt10 Maniatis et al. (1982), Molecular Cloning, A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor). For this purpose the dsDNA was a) treated with EcoRI methylase in order to protect internal EcoRI cleavage sites of the dsDNA, and b) provided with EcoRI Linkers which c) were then opened with EcoRI.

Re a): The methylase reaction of the dsDNA was carried out immediately after the repair reaction by addition of of 500 mM EDTA (pH 60 pi of methylase buffer (100 mM NaOAc (pH 2 mg of S-adenosyl-L-methionine) and 2 iL of EcoRI methylase (20 U/pl) by incubation at t 37 0 C for 30 min.

The reaction mixture was extracted with phenol, and the dsDNA was precipitated with 60 pL of 4 M NaOAc and 1300 pl of ethanol. The dsDNA was washed twice with 70% ethanol, extracted once by shaking with ether, and dried.

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9 Re b): The EcoRI-methylated dsDNA was dissolved in 88 iL of

H

2 0 and, after addition of 10 pL of ligase buffer (500 mM tris (pH 100 mM MgCL 2 100 mM DTT, 10 mM spermidine, 10 mM ATP, 1 mg/ml BSA) and 1 pL of T4 DNA Ligase (10 U/pL), was Ligated with 1 p1 of EcoRI Linkers pg/pL) (pGGAATTCC and pAGAATTCT) at 15 0 C overnight.

Re c): The volume of the Ligase mixture is made up to 120 pL with 6 pL of H 2 0, 12 pl of 10x EcoRI buffer and 2 pL of EcoRI (120 U/pL). The EcoRI digestion was carried out at 370C for 2 h.

Removal of unbound Linkers via a potassium acetate gradient and size-selection of the dsDNA To remove aLL the unbound EcoRI linkers from the dsDNA, 4'.0:4 the EcoRI reaction mixture was applied in toto to a poto assium acetate gradient (5-20% KOAc, 1 mM EDTA, 1 pL/mL ethidium bromide) which was centrifuged (Beckman S rotor) at 50,000 rpm and 20 0 C for 3 h. The gradient o was fractionated from below in such a way that the volume of the first five fractions was 500 pL, and that of alL the remainder was 100 pL. The fractions were precipitated with 0.01 voLume of acryLamide (2 mg/ml) and 2.5 voLumes of ethanoL, washed once with 70% strength ethanoL and dried, and each was taken up in 5 pl of

H

2 0.

a 2 To determine the size of the dsDNA, 1 pl of each fraction was anaLyzed in a 1.5% agarose gel. In addition, the quantity of dsDNA was determined on 1 pL of each fraction.

10 Fractions containing dsDNA with over 1000 bp were combined, and the sample was concentrated until the final concentration was 27 pg/ml.

Incorporation of the dsDNA into the phage vector and in vitro packaging reaction The incorporation of the dsDNA into the EcoRI cleavage site of the phage vector Xgt10 (Vector Cloning Systems, San Diego, CA) was carried out in a 4 pl ligase mixture: 2 pL of dsDNA, 1 pl of Xgt10 x EcoRI (1 pg/ml), 0.4 p1 of Ligase buffer, 0.5 ul of H 2 0 and 0.1 pL of T4 DNA Ligase. The mixture was incubated at 150C for 4 h.

To establish the placental. cDNA bank in the phage vector the Ligase mixture was then subjected to an in vitro packaging reaction with the X-Lysogenic cell extracts E. coli NS 428 and NS 433 at room temperature for 2 h (Vector Cloning Systems, San Diego, CA; Enquist and Sternberg, Methods in Enzymology 68, (1979), 281-298).

The reaction was stopped with 500 pL of suspension medium (SM: 0.1 M NaCL, 8 mM MgSO4, 50 mM tris (pH 0.01% gelatine) and 2 drops of chloroform.

Determination of the titer and analysis of the placental cDNA bank The number of plaque-forming units (PFU) of the placen- S* *taL cDNA bank was determined using competent cells of the E. coli K 12 strain C600 HFL: it was 1 x 106 PFU.

About 80% of the phages contained DNA inserts larger than 1000 base-pairs.

OLigonucleotide probes for screening the placental cDNA bank Two oligonucleotide probes (20mer probe and 66mer probe) were synthesized for analysis of the placental cDNA 11 I bank. Their sequences were deduced from the amino acid primary sequence of several proteolytic and BrCN fragments of F XIIIa. In some cases overlapping, and hence Longer, amino acid sequences were found, and these permitted the synthesis of a very Long probe, namely the 66mer probe.

The 20mer probe is a conventional DNA probe in which all the theoretically possible codons for the amino acid sequence Met-Met-Asp-ILe-Thr-Asp-Thr are taken into account (in the case of the terminal amino acid, Thr, the third position in the codon, called the "wobble" position, was omitted; see Table The 20mer probe is thus 48-fold degenerate, i.e. a mixture of all the 48 theoretically possible coding oligonucleotides for the said amino acid sequence.

The manner of construction and the use of the 66mer S probe essentially followed the rules of Lathe, J. Mol.

20 Biol. 183 (1985) 1-12. In order to construct the 66mer probe two 39mer probes were synthesized (39mer A with S" the sequence: 5' TATGGCCAGTTTGAGGATGGCATCCTGGACACCTGTCTG and 39mer B with the sequence: 5' GTCCATCTGGGCCCGGTCCATCACATACAGACAGGTGTC 39mer A and 39mer B have a complementary sequence comprising 12 bases so that hybridization of the two sequences results in long free 5' ends.

The two 39mer probes were (as was the 20mer probe) labeled at the 5' end with T4 polynucleotide kinase in the presence of (y- 32 P)-ATP (about 1 pg of DNA, (y- 3 2

P)-ATP:

3000 Ci/mmol, 10 pCi/pl, with 6 p1/40 pU reaction mixture being used). The 20mer probe had a specific activity of 1 x 108 Bq/pg or 1.5 x 106 Bq/pmoL. The two 39mer probes were heated at 950C for 5 min., mixed and slowly cooled to 4 0 C in a cold room, and thus hybridized. Then about 1 pg of the hybridized 39mer probes 12 was treated with DNA polymerase 1, KLenow fragment, with the addition of (a- 3 2 P)-dATP (3000 Ci/mmol, 10 iCi/pl, 4 pL/50 pl reaction mixture) filling-in reaction). The filled-in 66mer probe had a specific activity of 1.5 x 108 Bq/pg. The DNA probes were stored at -200C; the 20mer probe was used immediately for analysis (screening), while the 66mer probe had previously been heated at 950C for 5 min and then rapidly cooled in an ice bath.

Since the 66mer probe had been produced by hybridization of two 39mers followed by a filling-in reaction, it is possible to carry out various experiments. On the one hand, it is possible to hybridize cDNA banks with the denatured 66mer DNA probe and, on the other hand, it is then possible to hybridize positive clones with the 39mer A and B probes individually.

It is highly probable that the clones which hybridize i 20 both with the long probe and with both short 39mer probes A and B have the desired sequence. Thus, the method of constructing a long, complex oligonucleotide probe and of "rescreening" the clones using the partially com- 2, plementary short DNA probes, which has been described, i 25 represents an enhancement of specificity. In addition, it is possible with the long oligonucleotide and its partially complementary short partoligonucleotides to I screen genomic banks with enhanced specificity. Another advantage of the said method is that the synthesis of shorter oligonucleotides can be carried out more easily and with higher yields and accuracy. The sequence of two enzymatic reactions, namely 1) T4 polynucleotide kinase for the (y- 3 2 P)-ATP labeling, and 2) DNA polymerase filling-in reaction with addition of 3 2 P)-dNTP, means that it is possible to obtain higher specific activities (at least x10 8 Bq/pg DNA).

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13 Screening of the placental cDNA with F XIIIa-specific oligonucleotides x 105 PFU of the pLacentaL cDNA bank were examined for cDNA sequences coding for F XIIIa using the probe and the 66mer probe. This entailed 3 x 104 PFU being plated out with ceLLs of the E. coli K 12 strain C 600 HFL in soft agar in 13.5 cm Petri dishes and incubated at 370C for 6 h. Any Lysis which had taken place by this time was still incomplete. The plates were incubated in a refrigerator overnight, and the phages were transferred to nitrocellulose filters (Schleicher Schuill, BA 85, Ref. No. 401124) (duplicates). The nitrocellulose filters and Petri dishes were marked with an injection needle in order to allow subsequent allocation. The Petri dishes were stored in a cold room during the processing of the nitrocellulose filters. The DNA on the nitrocellulose filters was denatured by placing the filters for 5 min. on filter paper (Whatman M 3) impregnated with 1.5 M NaCL, 0.5 M NaOH. The filters were then renatured in the same way using 1.5 M NaCL, 0.5 M tris (pH 8.0) and washed with 2x SSPE (0.36 M NaCI, 16 mM NaOH, 20 mM NaH 2 P0 4 2 mM EDTA). The filters were then dried in vacuo at 800C for 2 h. The filters were washed in 3x SSC, 0.1% SDS SSC 3 M NaCI, 0.3 M Na citrate) at 650C for 4 h, and prehybridized at 65 0 C for 4 h (prehybridization solution: 0.6 M NaCL, 0.06 M tris (pH 6 mM EDTA, 0.2% non-ionic synthetic sucrose polymer (V Ficoll), 0.2% polyvinylpyrrolidone 40, 0.2% BSA, 0.1% SDS, ug/ml denatured herring sperm DNA). The filters were incubated overnight with the addition of 100,000- 200,000 Bq of the labeled oligonucleotide per ml of hybridization solution (as prehybridization solution but without herring sperm DNA) in beakers or in sealed polyethylene films, shaking gently. The hybridization temperature for the 20mer probe and for the 39mer probes was 42 0 C, and that for the 66mer probe was 47 0

C.

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14 The nitroceLlulose filters were washed with 6x SSC, 0.05 M sodium pyrophosphate at room temperature for 1 h and at the particular hybridization temperature for a further hour. The filters were dried and autoradiographed overnight. Signals occurring on both duplicate X-ray films were allocated to the Petri dish, and the region (about 50 plaques) was punched out with the wide end of a Pasteur pipette, and the phages were resuspended in 1 ml of SM buffer. Positive phages were singled out over three rounds until a single clone was obtained.

A total of 5 x 105 PFU of the placental cDNA bank was examined in several passages. 17 signals were identified on duplicate filters. Further screening under more stringent conditions resulted in 7 signals still being positive. Of these 7 PFU only one PFU showed a positive signal both after hybridization with the and 66mer probes and with the 39mer probes A and B.

This clone called Xgt10-12 hereinafter has a sequence of 1704 base-pairs coding for F XIIIa and having San internal EcoRI cleavage site. Southern blot analysis Sshows that the smaller EcoRI fragment of 540 base-pairs hybridizes with the 20mer DNA probe, and the larger j 25 fragment of 1164 base-pairs hybridizes with the 66mer DNA probe.

i 1 SOn rescreening, it emerged from the Southern blot that there is more reaction with the 39mer probe A than with 30 the 39mer probe B. Sequence analysis of the clone 1 12 showed subsequently that, over the entire length of the 66mer probe, there are only seven mismatches to the sequence found for F XIIIa (Table The seven mismatches are distributed as follows: there are three in the 39mer A probe and five mismatches in the 39mer B probe (one mismatch occurs in the overlapping region, and thus is common to both). The five mismatches in the 39mer B probe are clustered, which is possibly the reason for the 15 weaker hybridization signals in the case of the 39mer B probe.

Screening of the placental cDNA with nick-translated EcoRI fragments The two subcloned EcoRI fragments, which were 540 basepairs and 1164 base-pairs in Length, were cloned into the EcoRI cleavage site of the commercially available vector pUC8 (1164 bp pUC8-12.1 and 540 bp pUC8-12.2) and were isolated therefrom preparatively with EcoRI, and nick-translated in the presence of 2 P)-dNTP. The specific activity of both fragments was 1x108 Bq/pg DNA.

Using the 3 2 P)-labeled fragments in several passages, about 1 x 106 recombinant phages of the placental cDNA bank were examined (hybridization temperature 65 0 C) and thus 13 hybridizing phages were identified. The phages were singled out over three rounds until a single homogeneous phage preparation was obtained. 20 ml lysates of each phage were set up, and the DNA was extracted. The DNA was digested with EcoRI and fractionated on a 1% agarose gel. The gel was subjected to the Southern blot technique, and the nitrocellulose filter was hybridized with the labeled 540 bp EcoRI fragment. Eleven phages showed hybridization signals. The nitrocellulose filter was boiled and hybridized with the nick-translated 1164 bp EcoRI fragment. Nine phages showed hybridization i signals.

30 It was possible to identify, on the basis of the size of the hybridizing fragment3, clones which, in comparison with Xgt10-12, expand both towards the 5' end such as Xgt10-20 and towards the 3' end such as Xgt10-11. It was possible by use of these clones to determine the com- S 35 plete F XIIIa cDNA sequence. It was possible to combine part-sequences which were present by use of internal restriction sites or by hybridization of overlapping sequences. The complete cDNA sequence can be ligated into 16 expression vectors and expressed in suitable prokaryotic or eukaryotic systems.

DNA sequence analysis The phage clone Xgt10-12 was multiplied, and the DNA was extracted. The two EcoRI fragments were isolated and cLoned into the EcoRI site of the plasmid vector pUC8.

pUC8-12.1 has the 1164 base-pair fragment, and pUC8-12.2 has the 540 base-pair fragment. In order to isolate the entire fragment comprising 1704 base-pairs, Xgt10-12 was partially digested with EcoRI, and the 1704 base-pair band was isolated and cloned into the EcoRI site of pIC19H (Marsh et al., Gene 32 (1984) 481-485). The resulting pLasmid is called pIC19H-12.

It was possible by cloning Sau 3A, ALul and TaqI subfragments of the clones pUC8-12.1, pUC8-12.2 and pIC19H-12 into pUC plasmids and M13 phages, followed by sequencing of the relevant regions using the enzymatic dideoxy method of Sanger and the chemical method of Maxam and Gilbert, to determine the sequence of the 1704 bp fragment (Table The sequence shows only one open reading frame and codes for the first 542 amino acids of the factor XIIIa molecule.

Restriction analysis of the clone Xgt10-12 or pIC19H-12 and of the clones Xgt10-11 and Xgt10-20 was carried out both by suitable single and multiple digestions and by 30 partial digestion of P)-labeled DNA fragments by the method of Smith and Birnstiel (Smith, H.O. and Birnstiel, M.L.,Nucleic Acids Res. 3 (1976) 2387-2398) (Figure 1).

The clone Xgt10-11 has a fragment which is 2432 bp in size and has an internal EcoRI cleavage site. This fragment overlaps by 237 bp at the 3' end the cDNA fragment from Xgt10-12, and comprises the remaining 570 bp 17 of the coding sequence plus 1625 bp of the non-coding region including a poly(A) sequence of 89 bases. The clone Xgt10-20 with a cDNA fragment about 700 bp in size also has at the 5' end 6 bases more (GAG GAA than Xgt10-12.

2. Preparation of a clone which can be expressed and contains the entire cDNA coding for F XIIIa The starting clones Xgt10-11 and Xgt10-12 were used to obtain a plasmid which contains the entire coding region of the F XIIIa cDNA. With the aid of partial EcoRI digestion, the insertion, comprising 1704 base-pairs, of Xgt10-12 was cloned into the EcoRI site of pIC19H (Marsh et al., Loc. cit.). The resulting plasmid pIC19H-12.1 was used subsequently (see Fig. The clone Xgt10-11 has an insertion 2432 base-pairs in size and has an internal EcoRI cleavage site. The left EcoRI fragment, which is 1224 base-pairs in size and embraces the C-terminal 570 base-pairs of the coding sequence plus 654 base-pairs of the 3' non-coding region, was likewise cloned into the EcoRI cleavage site of pIC19H. The resulting plasmid pIC19H-11.1 was used subsequently (Fig. The plasmids pIC19H-12.1 and pIC19H-11.1 have the coding region for F XIIIa in the same orientation in the vector and have an overlapping region which comprises 237 base-pairs. This overlapping region was used to construct from the part-clones pIC19H-12.1 and pIC19H-11.1 a clone which embraces the 30 entire coding region. This entailed preparation, from the two plasmids mentioned, of partially single-stranded heteroduplex molecules by hybridization in vitro (Fig.

ti 2) and transformation of the reaction mixture into tt E. coli. By utilization of the repair mechanisms of the bacterium exonuclease activity, polymerization activity of the enzyme DNA polymerase a plasmid with the entire coding region was obtained.

18 Specifically, this entailed 1 pg of the DNA of each of the plasmids pIC19H-12.1 (Clal-digested) and pIC19H-11.1 (BamHI-digested) being mixed and precipitated with ethanol. The DNA was dried in vacuo, taken up in 20 pl of

H

2 0 and, after addition of 5 pL of 1 N NaOH, incubated at room temperature for 10 minutes. The following were then added in the sequence indicated: 200 pL of H 2 0, vl of 1 M tris.HCL (pH 8.0) and 50 pl of 0.1 N HCL.

The reaction mixture was incubated at 650C for 3 hours, precipitated with ethanol, and dried. The DNA was resuspended in 20 pL of H 2 0 and transformed by known methods into E. coli, and the cells were plated onto LB-amp plates and incubated overnight. Of the total of 96 ampicillin-resistant clones, 24 clones were worked up by the alkali method (Birnboim and Doly, Nucl.

Acid Res. 7 (1979) 1513-1523), and the plasmids were characterized by restriction endonucleolysis with HindIII, EcoRI, BamHI and PvuII. Six plasmids showed the expected restriction pattern. One of these plasmids, pFXIII-13 (Fig. was characterized in detail.

This entailed the Stul (position 1225)-PvuII (position 1870) fragment, which embraces the 237 base-pair overlapping region, being sequenced, and the DNA sequence was confirmed as correct. The plasmid pFXIII-13 comprises 2693 base-pairs of FXIIIa cDNA, of which 78 bp are of the 5' non-translated region, 2196 bp are the entire coding region, and 419 bp are of the 3' non-translated region. pFXIII-13 was the starting plasmid for all subsequent expression experiments.

3. Expression of biologically active factor XIIIa in E. coli a) Construction of F XIIIa expression p .asmids pFXIII-13 has the F XIIIa cDNA insert in the correct orientation with respect to the lac promoter and in the correct reading frame with respect to the lacZ 19 t-peptide. pFXIII-13 is thus able to induce the synthesis of a F XIIIa fusion protein in E. coLi. The molecular weight of this protein comprises the 732 amino acids of natural F XIIIa together with 16 vector-coded amino acids plus 28 amino acids specified by the 5' noncoding region. These additional 44 amino acids are Located at the N-terminal end of the fusion protein. The expected molecular weight of this protein is 85,250 D (Tab. 4).

An expression plasmid which uses in place of the Lac promoter a more efficient trp/Lac hybrid promoter was subsequently constructed. For this, pKK233-2 (Amann and Brosius, Gene 40 (1985), 183-190) was cut with EcoRI and treated with Bal31 (Fig. The DNA was then cut with PvuII, and the fragment 2800 base-pairs in size was purified on a PAA gel. This fragment was religated in the presence of a BglII linker (5'-CAGATCTG). The resulting plasmid pTrc89-1 (Fig. 3) was cut with NcoI and HindIII, and the synthetic linker CATGGAATTCGA 3' 3' CTTAAGCTTCGA 25 was incubated together with the 2800 base-pair fragment in a ligase mixture. The resulting plasmid, pTrc96A I (Fig. was cut with EcoRI and HindIII, and the fragment 2800 base-pairs in size was gel-purified and ligated with the EcoRI-HindIII Linker which is 55 base-pairs in 30 size from pUC18. The resulting plasmid is pTrc97A (Fig.

In contrast to pKK233-2, pTrc97A has, downstream of the Ncol site which occurs only once in the plasmid, the polylinker from pUC18 and thus has numerous cloning sites.

The FXIIIa cDNA cloned into pFXIII-13 has a PstI site 21 base-pairs 5' away from the ATG initiation codon (position 61). The next PstI site is located in the 3' 20 untranslated region (position 2398). The PstI fragment which is 2337 base-pairs Long was isolated from pFXIII- 13 and Ligated into the PstI site of pTrc97A. The resulting plasmid with the PstI fragment in the desired orientation is pFXIII-C4 (Fig. 3a). The expected FXIII molecule specified by pFXIII-C4 has 22 additional Nterminal amino acids, 15 of them being vector-coded and 7 being specified by the 5' non-coding region of the F XIII cDNA. The expected molecular weight of this protein is 82,830 D (Tab. 4).

Use of thrombin to cleave off the 37 amino-terminal amino acids converts the F XIIIa into the active form.

Since such a F XIIIa molecule which has already been activated is of therapeutic interest, an attempt was made to express in E. coli a F XIIIa that can be shortened by thrombin cleavage. In order to obtain a high yield the cloning was carried out in such a way that the shortened F XIIIa is expressed in the form of a hybrid protein, fused to an E. coli B-galactosidase fragment. The SmalhindIII fragment which is about 2700 bp in size from pFXIII-13 was isolated and ligated into pBD2IC20H which had been hydrolyzed with Smal and HindIII. In the new plasmid pMB259 (Fig. 3b), the coding region of the cDNA for F XIIIa from amino acid Pro 37 to Met 7 32 is located in the reading frame applying to the 375 aminoterminal amino acids of the B-galactosidase, and it has the thromin cleavage site Arg 3 8 /Gly 3 9 so that it is possible to obtain activated F XIIIa by thrombin cleavage from the 30 synthesized fusion proteins.

The expression vector pBD2IC20H had been constructed by Ligating the polylinker region, which comprises 58bp, of the plasmid pIC20H (Marsh et al., Loc. cit.) as BamHI- HindIII fragment in pBD2 (Broker, Gene Anal. Techn. 3 (1986) 53-57) which has the lac promoter.

21 b) Expression It was found that E. coli ceLLs of the strain D29A1 which are transformed with pFXIII-13, with pFXIII-C4 or with pMB259 are able to synthesize the expected F XIIIa proteins. The expression of F XIII by the pLasmids pFXIII-13, pMB 259 and pFXIII-C4 can be induced with IPTG. Comparison of protein extracts after IPTG induction of E. coLi D29A1 (pFXIII-13) and D29A1 (pFXIII- C4) on PAA gels stained with Coomassie blue showed the expected molecular weights of the F XIII fusion proteins. The estimated expression of the "44aa FXIII fusion protein" is about 5 times that of the "22aa FXIII fusion protein".

It was also found that the F XIIIa molecules specified by pFXIII-13 and pFXIII-C4 have biological activity. In contrast, no F XIII activity was found in E. coli D29A1 control extracts. The activity found in the clot stabi- Lity assay (Karges, in Bergmeier, Methods of Enzymatic Analysis, Volume 5, Enzymes 3: Peptidases, Proteinases and their Inhibitors, pages 400-410) is 5 pg/L for E. coli D29A1 (pFXIII-13), based on the E. coli culture (0D 2 5 0 and is 15 pg/l for D29A1 (pFXIII-C4).

The amount of factor XIII found in the F XIIIa-specific ELISA is 1.5 mg/L, based on the E. coli culture, for pFXIII-13 and is 3 mg/l for pFXIII-C4. The discrepancy between the amounts of F XIII measured in the biological assay and in the ELISA derives from the fact that the major part 90%) of F XIII in the E. coli cell is in the form of an insoluble precipitate which is biologically inactive and dissolves only in 7 M urea. The soluble fraction of the F XIII molecules present in E.

coli extracts shows in the Ouchterlony test (Ouchterlony, Progr. Allergy 5 (1958) 1) a precipitation curve which is substantially identical to that of F XIII isolated from placenta.

22- The expression of eukaryotic proteins in E. coLi in the form of insoluble protein aggregates has already been described for several proteins. These proteins can be dissolved out of such aggregates using a chaotropic agent and can be converted by suitable renaturing conditions into their biologically active form.

4. Expression of F XIII in yeasts The synthesis of biologically active F XIII obtained by gene manipulation from yeasts was achieved by incorporating the cDNA coding for F XIII into expression vectors which are able to replicate autonomously in yeasts.

It was possible to isolate F XIII-active protein from extracts of the recombinant clones.

The conditions for growing yeasts and the molecular biological methods are described in Dillon et al., Recombinant DNA Methodology, John Wiley Sons, New York (1985) and in Maniatis et al., loc. cit..

The F XIII cDNA was isolated from the vector pFXIII-13 as a HindIII fragment about 2700 bp in size, and was cloned into the HindIII site of the vector pAAH5 (Ammerer, Meth. Enzymol. 101 (1983), 192-201). Thus, the F XIII cDNA in the resulting plasmid pMB240 (Fig. 4) is under the control of the strong ADHI promotor which contains the gene expression signals of alcohol dehydrogenase.

The plasmid pMB240 was transformed into baker's yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, strain Leu 2-3, Pep 4-3, by the method of Itoh et al. Bacteriol. 153 (1983), ?163-168) and Leu transformants were selected on YNB minimal medium. One colony of transformed yeast cells was used to inoculate a liquid culture with YNB medium.

After growth at 300C for two days, transfer into complex YPB medium was tarried out and, after a further three days, the cells were removed by centrifugation and were disrupted with a glass bead mill in isotonic saline 23 solution containing 100 mM sodium citrate (pH 7.2).

The cell extract was subjected to high-speed centrifugation in a SorvaLL high-speed centrifuge, in a SS34 rotor, at 20,000 rpm and 4 0 C for 1 hour.

The cell-free supernatant of S. cerevisiae (pMB240) was analyzed by the Western blot method. In addition to a band which can be detected in the same position as F XIII from placenta, a protein of about 116,000 D reacted specifically with the anti-F XIII serum used.

This proves that part of the F XIII formed in yeasts is glycosylated. The glycosylation of proteins is often a factor prolonging the half-life of proteins, especially plasma proteins. In addition, carbohydrate side-chains may increase the activity or extend the duration of the action of plasma proteins, for example antithrombin III.

A F XIII which is expressed in yeast and which, in contrast to F XIII obtained from placenta, is glycosylated or has undergone 1sttransLatimal modificaiton in some other way can have, owing to an increased activity, advantages over F XIII from placenta.

The cell-free supernatant was examined for F XIII by an ELISA, and the F XIII concentration was found to be 150 ng/ml, based on the yeast culture. The biological activity of F XIII was determined by the method of Karges, Loc. cit., and confirmed the concentrations measured in S' the ELISA. It was possible to rule out a non-specific F XIII-like activity by yeast proteins because the biological activity of the F XIII obtained from baker's j yeast could be specifically inhibited by anti-F XIII antibodies.

S 5. Expression of F XIIIa in animal cells a) Construction of expression vectors for animal cells The expression vector pSVA STOP1 is proposed in German Patent Application P 36 24 453.8 (example 1 of this 24 application, which relates to the synthesis of this vector, has been extracted and is reproduced in the Appendix). Apart from this plasmid, use was made of the vectors pZET4 (see below) and pSP6HS9, which has the Drosophila heat shock protein 70 promotor (Wurm et al., Proc.

Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 83 (1986) 5414-5418), for the expression of F XIIIa in animal cells.

pZET4 (Fig. the plasmid pSVA STOP1 was cut with BamHI, and the vector fragment which is 2.6 kb in size and has the SV40 early promotor was isolated. The BgLII-BamHI fragment 0.85 kb in size from pSV2dhfr (Lee et al., Nature 294 (1981) 228-232) was ligated into the vector which had been pretreated in this way, which resuited in the plasmid pZET4. Located on the 0.85 kb fragment from pSV2dhfr are mRNA splice sites from exonintron joins, and the polyadenylation site of the gene for the t antigen from the SV40 DNA.

b) Construction of F XIIIa expression vectors for animal cells ii pSVF13 (Fig. 5a): the expression vector pSVA STOP1 was cut with HindIII and XbaI. A HindIII-Xbal fragment, I 25 about 2.7 kb in size and having the F XIIIa cDNA, from pFXIII-13, was ligated into the vector which had been treated in this way. The F XIIIa transcription unit on pSVF13 has no mRNA splice sites.

pZF13 (Fig. 5b): a HindIII fragment about 2.7 kb in size and containing the F XIIIa cDNA was isolated from the plasmid pFXIII-13. The resulting 5' protruding end was eliminated by filling in the complementary strand with DNA polymerase I (Klenow fragment). The expression vector pZET4 was linearized by cutting at the unique XbaI site. The resulting 5' protruding end was likewise eliminated by filling in the complementary strand with DNA polymerase I (Klenow fragment). Ligation of the filled-in vector with the filled-in F XIIIa cDNA fragment 25 results in the F XIIIa expression plasmid pZF13. As in pSVF13, the F XIIIa cDNA is under the transcriptional control of the SV40 early promotor but is provided with mRNA splice sites.

pHSF13 (Fig. 5c): the plasmid pSVF13 was partially digested with EcoRI, and a fragment about 2.9 kb in size and having the F XIIIa cDNA followed by the SV40 polyadenylation site for early transcripts was isolated.

This fragment was Ligated into the unique EcoRI site of the plasmid pSP6HS9 downstream of the heat shock protein promotor.

Sc) DHFR expression vectors for the cotransfection of CHO (Chinese hamster ovary) dhfr cells Ii Either the DHFR vector pSV2dhfr (Lee et al., loc. cit.) or the promotorless DHFR plasmid pSVOAdhfr (German Patent Application P 36 24 453.8, see Appendix) was used for the cotransfection with the described F XIIIa expression j vectors in CHO dhfr cells. Both vectors have the DHFR cDNA from the mouse.

Sd) Vector conferring G418 resistance for the cotransfection of BHK (baby hamster kidney) cells

I

i The F XIIIa expression vectors which have been described were cotransfected with the vector pRMH140 (Hudziak et al., Cell 31 (1982), 137-146) in BHK cells.

Se) Expression of F XIIIa in CHO cells Cotransfection of the plasmid pZF13 with the DHFR vector pSV2dhfr, and of the expression plasmid pSVF13 together with the DHFR vector pSVOAdhfr, was carried out using the calcium phosphate precipitation method (Graham and van der Eb, Virology 52 (1973), 456-467) in CHO dhfr cells.

This entailed 20 pg of the particular F XIIIa expression plasmid (pZF13 or pSVF13) being mixed and coprecipitated i ;i.i 26 with 5 pg of the DHFR vectors (pSV2dhfr or pSVOAdhfr).

The coprecipitate was used for transfection as described above (0.5 x 106 cells in a 25 cm 2 culture bottle).

After 3 days, the cells were trypsinized, transferred into three 60 mm Petri dishes and mixed with selection medium (containing no glycine, hypoxanthine or thymidine). The only cells which survive under these conditions are those which have undergone stable transfection with the DHFR gene. Colonies of transfected cells become visible on the Petri dishes after 1-3 weeks. The following transfection rates were achieved by this method: 55 I pSV2dhfr 5 x 10 5 /plate pSVOAdhfr 1 x 10-5/plate Individual clones were isolated and multiplied in a medium containing no glycine, hypoxanthine or thymidine.

A specific ELISA with a lower detection limit of about 3 ng/ml was used to detect F XIIIa in culture supernatants and cell lysates of the individual clones. Culture supernatants were used as such in the ELISA. The cell lysates were prepared as follows: Confluent cells in 25 cm 2 culture bottles were washed twice in 40 mM tris.HCL (pH 1 mM EDTA, 150 mM NaCI, taken up in 150 pl of 0.25 M tris.HCL (pH 7.8), mM DTT, 2% glycerol, 0.2% detergent (Triton X100), and lyzed by freezing and thawing three times.

S Insoluble constituents of the cells were removed by centrifugation. The lysate was diluted 1:2.5 for use in S' the ELISA. The detection method which has been described was applied to 17 clones for the combination of the plasmids pZF13/pSV2dhfr, and one clone expressing F XIIIa (CHO 59-5-C7) was found. After cotransfection with the plasmids pSVF13/pSVOAdhfr and analysis of 12 clones, a further F XIIIa-expressing clone (CHO 60-3-C1) was detected. With both the positive clones it was possible to detect F XIIIa in the medium and in the lysate in the same relative amounts. In order to determine 27 quantitatively the expression rate of the Lines producing F XIIIa the following standard procedure was carried out: x 106 cells were plated out in 5 ml medium in 25 cm 2 culture bottles. The medium was changed after 24 hours ml). Another 24 hours later the medium was removed, the cell count was determined, and lysates were prepared.

For all the expression rates (ng/10 6 cells/ 24 h) stated hereinafter, the cell count per 25 cm 2 bottle at the end of the test was 1 0.25 x 106 cells. The table which follows shows the expression rate of the basic clones tested in the manner described: extracellular intracellular (ng/10 6 cells/ (ng/10 6 cells/ 24h) 24 h) CHO 59-5-C7 12 9 CHO 60-3-C1 17 13 On SDS electrophoresis followed by F XIIIa-specific immunoblotting of lysates and supernatants of the clone CHO 59-5-C7 and the clone CHO 60-3-C1, in each case one band with the molecular weight of the protein isolated from human placenta showed a reaction.

The clone CHO 59-5-C7 was exposed to increasing concentrations of methotrexate (Mtx) fcr gene amplification. Starting with a concentration of 10 nM Mtx and a 4-transfer adaptation time, the Mtx concentration in the medium was increased to 50 nM. The following expression rates were determined in the standard procedure: Mtx (nM) extracellular intracellular (ng/10 6 cells/24 h) (ng/10 6 cells/24 h) 0 12 9 19 16 38 66 28 f) Expression of F XIIIa in BHK cells pg of each of the F XIIIa expression plasmids pZF13, pSVF13 and pHSF13 were cotransfected with 5 pg of the plasmid pRMH140 which codes for G418 resistance, by the calcium phosphate precipitation method described in example 5e) in BHK cells. After 3 days, the cells were trypsinized, transferred into three 60 mm Petri dishes and mixed with selection medium containing 400 pg/ml G418. After 12 days about 200-300 G418 resistant colonies had grown in each Petri dish. The total number of clones was trypsinized and subjected to transfers as *I 2 combined clone (CC) in 25 cm culture bottles (5 mL of medium).

In the case of cells transfected with pZF13 and pSVF13, where an 80-100% confluence had been reached F XIIIa was determined in the medium and in the relevant lysate (see example 5e))using a specific ELISA. Combined clones which had been transfected with pHSF13 and had likewise reached 80-100% confluence were mixed with fresh medium which had been preheated to 420C and were incubated at 420C for one hour. After another replacement of the medium with fresh medium equilibrated at 37 0 C, the cells were maintained at 37 0 C for 24 hours. The medium and lysates were then examined for their content Sof F XIIIa as described above. The table which follows summarizes the cellular distribution of F XIIIa for the Svarious combined clones.

extracellular intracellular S(ng) (ng) BHK-MK1 (pZF13) 65 22 BHK-MK2 (pZF13) 80 BHK-MK3 (pSVF13) 85 18 (pHSF13) 170 11 -29 The expression rates relating to the F XIIIa present in the medium were determined for the individual combined clones by the standard procedure described in example For all the expression rates (ng/10 6 cells/ 24 h) stated hereinafter, the cell count per 25 cm 2 bottle at the end of the test was 4.5 0.5 x 106 cells.

extracellular 6 cells/24 h) BHK-MK1 (pZF13) 3.4 BHK-MK2 (pZF13) 5.6 (pHSF13) 3.8 BHK-MK6 (pHSF13) 3.8 Since the transfected BHK lines described hitherto have been mixed populations including cells which were not producing or differed in their expression rates, it was subsequently attempted to isolate genetically uniform cell lines with high expression rates by singling out clones. For this purpose, cells from the particular combined clone were placed on microtiter plates in a concentration of 1 cell/well, 2 cells/well or 4 cells/ well. Supernatants from wells in which only one clone had grown were analyzed by the F XIIIa-specific ELISA.

SThe clones with the highest expression rates were multiplied in 25 cm culture bottles, and their expression rates were investigated by the standard procedure described above. The table which follows shows the expression rate of clones obtained by singling out BHK-MK1 1 (pZF13) in the manner described.

-J.

30 extracelluLar 6 ceLLs/24 h)

BHK

BHK

BHK

BHK

BHK

MK1 MK1-A12 MK1-E2 MK1-F12 MK1-C1 (pZF13) 3.4 8 14 22 It was also shown, taking the example of the BHK cell line MK1-E2, that the F XIIIa molecules synthesized by these ceLLs have biological activity. 108 cells of the BHK MK1-E2 line and of the non-transfected BHK Line which was used (negative control) were taken up in ml of 0.25 M tris.HCL (pH 7.8) containing 2% glyceroL.

The cells were Lyzed by freezing and thawing three times, followed by treatment in a Dounce homogenizer.

After removal of insoluble constituents by centrifugation, the Lysate was used in the biological assay (see example 20 The following F XIIIa activities were found: 4 44 04 0 Jo 09 r 4t 0. 0 0J0 BHK MK1-E2 BHK (not transfected) 0.06 units/108 cells 0 Table 1 Amino acid sequence probe, 48-fold degenerate Met Met Asp lie Thr Asp Thr ATG ATG GAT ATT ACT GAT AC C C A C A C

G

DNA probe 4 TabLe 2 66rner probe, non-degene'rate Amino acid# Amino acid sequence PossibLe mRNA sequences 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 8 9 10 11 1t 13 14 15 16 1? 18 19 20 21 22 Sly 61i1 Phe CCU CAA IRJV CCC CAG UUIC

GCR

GGG

ONv Asp Cly CAA CMV CCU GAG GRC GC

GCR

GG

Ile Lev AOU UM A11C UUG AUA Cliii tiC C1JA

CIIG

Asp Thr Cys Lev Tyr Val Met Asp Arg Ate ON~ Net Asp

CA)

GAV ACVU ICV IJIA UV GOVi AUG GAO CCU CCV CAA AVG GAV CRC AEC UJGC WIJG IJAC CIIC CAC EEG GUS CAG GCC AEA CIIU GUR CGA CUR AEG IC 6116 EGG GUS CUR AGA EUG AGO 66mer probe TAT CC CAG I"TGA CRAT GCC AMC CTG SAC ACC ICC CIO TAT GTG AMO CAC CCC CCC CRC AIG' CAC Sequence found TAT CGT CAC "IT CAR SAT CCC ATC CIOCSAC ACT TCC CIO TAT GT IG C C AGA WAR tA ATD SAC f 7 32 TABLE 3 GAGGAAGTCCCCGAGGCGCACAGAGCAAGCCCACGCGAGGGCACCTCTGGAGGGGAGCGCCTGCAGGACCTTGTAAAGT

C

o o.

0 0 0400 o 400 04 0 00 0 0 0 04 0.,00 0 0 00 0 0 00 .0 0000 00 000 0 0~ 00 000 00 OoeOOO 81 AAAA MET

ATG

1 42 SER ASN TCT AAI 202 VAL ASN GTC AAC 262 THR ASN ACT AAC 322 GLY GLN GGG GAG 382 PilE ARG TIC AGG 4142 VAL PRO GTG CCT 502 ASP ARG SAC AGG 562 MET TYR ATG TAT 622 PRO PRO ASN CCA CCC AAT VAL PRO ARG GIG CCC CGG SLU ARG TRP SAG AGA TGG ILE VAL ARG ATT GTC CGC ARG ARG ASP AGA ASS GAT THR TYR ILE ACC TAG ATC VAL MET ARG SIC AIG AGA SLY LYS PHE SSG AAA TIC ASN PRO GLU AAC CGA GAA *ASP IHR TYR ILE LEU PHlE ASN PRO TRP CYS SLU ASP ASP ALA VAL TYR LEU ASP ASN GLU GAG AG TAG ATT GIG TIC AAT CCI ISG 151 SAA GAT GAT SCI 515 TAT CGGSAC AAI GAG 33-- 682 LYS GLU ARG GLU GLU TYR VAL AAA GAA AGA GAA GAG TAT GTC LEU ASN ASP ILE SLY VAL ILE PHE TYR SLY GLU VAL ASN CTG AAT SAC ATC GGG GTA ATT TTT TAT GSA GAG GTC AAT 742 ASP ILE SAC ATC LYS THR ARG SER TRP SER TYR SLY GLN PHE GLU ASP GLY ILE LEU ASP THR CYS AAG ACC AGA AGC TGG AGCILAT GGT CAG TTT GAA GAT SSCATC_ TqGACACTTGC 802 LEU TYR VAL MET ASP ARG ALA S TAT GTG ATG GAj ALA GLA GLN MET CLA Al 66 ASP LEU GA CTC mer SER SLY ARG SLY ASN PRO ILE LYS VA-.

TCT GGA AGA GGG AAT CCC ATC AAA GTC 862

SER

AGC

922

TRP

TGG

982 LE U

CTA

104~2

SLY

GGT

1102

PHE

TTC

1162

ASN

AAC

1222

TRP

TGG

ARG VAL SLY SER ALA MET VAL ASN ALA LYS ASP ASP GLU SLY VAL LEU VAL SLY SER CGT GTG 555 TCT GCA ATG STG AAT 6CC AAA SAT SAC GAA SST GTC CTC GTT GGA TCC ASP ASN ILE TYR ALA TYR SLY VAL PRO PRO SER ALA TRP THR SLY SER VAL ASP ILE SAC AAT ATC TAT 6CC TAT GSC STC CCC CCA TCS 6CC TGS ACT GSA ASC STT SAC ATT LEU SLU TYR ARS SER SER SLU ASN PRO VAL ARS TYR SLY SLN CYS TRP VAL PHE ALA TTG SAA TAC CSS ASC TCT GAS AAT CCA STC CSS TAT SSC CAA TSC TSS GTT TTT GCT VAL PHE ASN THR PHE LEU ARS CYS LEU SLY ILE PRO ALA ARS ILE VAL THR ASN TYR STC TTT AAC ACA TTT TTA CSA TGC CTT GSA ATA CCA SCA ASA ATT STT ACC AAT TAT SER ALA HIS ASP ASN ASP ALA ASN LEU SLN MET ASP ILE PHE LEU SLU SLU ASP SLY TCT 6CC CAT SAT AAT SAT 6CC AAT TTS CAA ATS GAC ATC TTC CTG SAA SAA SAT 556 VAL ASN SER LYS LEU THR LYS ASP SER VAL TRP ASN TYR HIS CYS TRP ASN GLU ALA GTG AAT TCC AAA CTC ACC AAS SAT TCA STS TGG AAC TAC CAC TSC TGS AAT SAA SCA MET THR ARS PRO ASP LEU PRO VAL SLY PHE SLY SLY TRP SLN ALA VAL ASP SER THR ATG ACA ASS CCT SAC CTT CCT STT GSA TTT GSA GSC TGG CAA GCT STG SAC AGC ACC I I 1282 PRO GLN SLU ASN SER ASP SLY MET TYR ARS CYS SLY PRO ALA SER VAL SLN ALA ILE LYS CCC CAS SAA AAT AGC SAT SSC ATS TAT CGG TST GSC CCC 6CC TCS STT CAA 6CC ATC AAG 1 342 HIS SLY HIS VAL CYS PHlE GLN PHE ASP ALA PRO PHlE VAL PHlE ALA GLU VAL ASN SER ASP CAC SGC CAT STC TGC TTC CAA TTT SAT SCA CCT TTT STT TTT SCA GAG GTC AAC AGC SAC 34 1402 1.EU

CTC

1462

HIS

CAC

1522

ASP

CAT

mi 1582 M4ET

ATG

16142

ASP

GAG

1 702

PHE

TTC

1762

PHE

TTC

1822

PRO

CCC

1882

LEU

CTG

ILE TYR ILE THR ALA LYS LYS ASP GLY THR HIS VAL VAL GLU ASN VAL ASP ALA THR ATT TAC ATT ACA GCT AAG AAA GAT GGC ACT CAT GTG GTG GAA AAT GTG GAT 6CC ACC ILE GLY LYS LEU ILE VAL THR LYS GLN ILE GLY GLY ASP GLY MET MET ASP ILE THR ATT GGG AAA TTA ATT GTG ACC AAA CAA ATT GGA GGA GAT GGCLjTG ATG GATATTACT THR TYR LYS PHE GLN GLU GLY GLN GLU GLU GLU ARG LEU ALA LEU GLU THR ALA LEU ACT TAG AAA TTC CAA GAA GGT CAA GAA GAA GAG AGA TTG 6CC CTA GAA ACT 6CC GTG TYR GLY ALA LYS LYS PRO LEU ASN THR GLU GLY VAL MET LYS SER ARG SER ASN VAL TAC GGA GGT AAA AAG CCC CTC AAC ACA GAA GGT GTC ATG AAA ICA AGG TGC AAC GTT MET ASP PHE GLU VAL GLU ASN ALA VAL LEU GLY LYS ASP PHE LYS LEU SER ILE THR ATG GAG TTT GAA GTG GAA AAT GCT GTG CTG GGA AAA GAGC TTC AAG CTG TGC ATC ACC ARG ASN ASN SER HIS ASN ARG TYR THR ILE THR ALA TYR LEU SER ALA ASN ILE THR CGG AAC AAC AGG CAC AAC CGT TAG ACC ATC ACA GGT TAT CTC TCA 6CC AAC ATC ACC TYR THR GLY VAL PRO LYS ALA GLU PHE LYS LYS GLU THR PHE ASP VAL THR LEU GLU TAG ACC GGG GTG CCG AAG GCA GAG TTC AAG AAG GAG ACG TTC GAG GIG ACG CTG GAG LEU SER PHE LYS LYS GLU ALA VAL LEU ILE GLN ALA GLY GLU TYR MET GLY GLN LEU TTG TCC TIC AAG AAA GAG GCG GIG CTG ATC CAA 6CC GGC GAG TAG ATG GGT GAG GTG GLU GLN ALA SER LEU HIS PHE PHE VAL THR ALA ARG ILE ASN GLU THR ARG ASP VAL GAA CAA GCG TCC CTG GAG TTC TTT GTC ACA GCT CGC ATG AAT GAG ACG AGG GAT GT ALA LYS GLN LYS SER THR VAL LEU THR ILE PRO GLU ILE ILE ILE LYS VAL ARG GLY 6CC AAG CAA AAG TCC ACC GTG CTA AGC ATC CGT GAG ATC ATC ATC AAG GTC CGT GGC 1 942

LEU

CTG

2002 THR GLN ACT GAG VAL VAL GLY SER ASP MET THR VAL THR VAL GLN PHE THR ASN PRO LEU LYS GLU GIA GTT GGT TCT GAG ATG ACT GTG ACA GTT GAG TTT AGC AAT CCT TTA AAA GAA 2062 THR LEU ARG ACC CTG CGA ASN VAL TRP VAL HIS LEU ASP GLY PRO GLY VAL THR ARG PRO MET LYS LYS AAT GTG TGG GTA GAG CTG GAT GGT CGT GGA GTA ACA AGA CCA ATG AAG AAG 1

I

35 2122 MET PHE ARG GLU ILE ARG PRO ASN SER THR VAL GLN TRP GLU GLU VAL CYS ARG PRO TRP ATG TTC CGT GAA ATC CGG CCC AAC TCC ACC GTG CAG TGG GAA GAA GTG TGC CGG CCC TGG 2182 VAL SER GLY HIS ARG LYS LEU ILE ALA SER MET SER SER ASP SER LEU ARG HIS VAL TYR GTC TCT GGG CAT CGG AAG CIG ATA 6CC AGC ATG AGC AGT GAC TCC CTG AGA CAT GTUG TAT 2242 GLY GLU LEU ASP VAL GLN ILE GLN ARG ARG PRO SER MET ATGCACAGGAAGCTGAGATGAAC 6GC GAG CTG GAC GTG CAG ATI CAA AGA CGA CCT TCC ATG TGA 2307

CCTGGCATTTGGCCTCTTGTAGTCTTGGCTAAGGAAATTCTAACGCAAAAATAGCTCTTGCTTTGACTTAGGTGTGAAGA

2387

CCCAGACAGGACTGCAGAGGGCCCCAGAGTGGAGATCCCACATATTTCAAAAACATACTTTTCCAAACCCAGGCTATTCG

2467

GCAAGGAAGTTAGYTTTTAATCTCTCCACCTTCCAAAGAGTGCTAAGCATTAGCTTTAATTAAGCTCTCATAGCTCATAA

2547

GAGTAACAGTCATCATTTATCATCACAAATGGCTACATCTCCAAATATCAGTGGGCTCTCTTACCAGGGAGATTTGCTCA

2627 ATACCTGGCCTCATTTAAAACAAGACTTCAGATTCCCCACTCAGCCTTTTGGGAATAATAGCACArGATrTGGGCTCTAG 2707

AATTCCAGTCCCCTTTCTCGGGGTCAGGTTCTACCCTCCATGTGAGAATATTTTTCCCAGGACTAGAGCACAACATAATT

2787 TTT ATTTTT GGCAA AGC CA GAAAAA GA TCTTTCATTTTGCA CCTGCAGCCAAGCAAAT GCCTGCCAA ATTTT AGA TTTA C 2867 CTTGTTAGAAGAGGTGGCCCCATATTAACAAATTGCATTTGTGGGAAACTTAACCACCT ACAAGGAGATAAGAAAGCAGG 2947 TGCAA CA CT CAA GTCT ATTGA ATAA TGTAGTTTTGTGATGCATTTT ATAGAATGTGT CA CA CTGT GG CCT GAT CA GCA GG 3027

AGCCAATATCCCTTACTTTAACCCTTTCTGGGATGCAATACTAGGAAGTAAAGTGAAGAATTTATCTCTTTAGTTAGTGA

3107 TTATATTTCACCCATCTCTCAGGAAT CATCTCCTTTGCAGAATGATGCAGGTTCAGGTCCCCTTTCAGAGAT ATAATAAG 3187

CCCAACAAGTTGAAGAAGCTGGCGGATCTAGTGACCAGATATATAGAAGGACTGCAGCCACTGATTCTCTCTTGTCCTTC

.1 36 3267

ACATCACCATTTTGAGACCTCAGCTTGGCACTCAGGTGCTGAAGGGTAATATGGACTCAGCCTTGCAAATAGCCAGTGCT

334j7

AGTTCTGACCCAACCACAGAGGATGCTGACATCATTTGTATTATGTTCCAAGGCTACTACAGAGAAGGCTGCCTGCTATG

3L427 T ATTTGCAAGGCTGATTTATGGT CAGAATTTCCCTCTGATATGTCTAGGGTGTGATTTAGGTCAGTAGACTGTGATTCTT 3507 AGCAAAAAAT GAACAGT GATAAGT ATACTGGGGGCAAAATCAGAATGGAAT GCTCTGGT CTATATAACCACATTT CT GAG 3587 CCTTT GAGACT GTT CCT GAGC CTT LAGCACTAACCTAT GAGGGTGAGCTGGTCCCCTCTAT ATATACATCATACTTAA CT 3657 TTACTAAGTAATCT CACAGCATTTGCCAAGTCT CCCAATATCCAATTTTAAAATGAAATGCATTTTGCTAGACAGTTAAA 374~7 CTGGCTT AACTTAGT ATATTATT ATTAATTACAATGT AATAGAAGCTTAAATAAAGTTAAACTGATTATAAAAAAAAAA 3827

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Tabte 4 p FXII 1- 13 Met acGlu Ser Lys Piet X11Ser Glu Ser Met STOP lac P 4 AAA WCjJ TCA GAA TCC ATG TGA 44 aa 732 aa p FXIII-C4 Met laZGlu Ser Lys trc P 4-G- GAA TCA AAA Met Ser Glu KTGT il TA GAA..

Ser Met STOP TCC ATG TGA 22 aa 732 aa pMB259 Met laZThr Asp Pro Asp lac P4 T GGGGAT Pro 37Arg 38Gly 39 Ser Met STOP CCC CGG GGC TCC ATG TGA 696 aa 377 aa aa -:amino acids 38 Appendix Example 1 from German Patent Application P 36 24 453.8 i a) Construction of an expression vector for animaL ceLLs The pLasmid pSV2dhfr (Lee et aL., Loc. cit.) was cut with HindIII and EcoRI, and the 2.65 kb vector fragment which has the SV40 early promotor was isolated. A 67 bp HindIII-EcoRI fragment from pUC12 STOP (Broker and Amann, AppL. MicrobioL. BiotechnoL. 23 (1986) 294-296) was Ligated into the vector which had been pretreated in this way, which results in the pLasmid pSV2 STOP. On the 67 bp fragment from pUC12 STOP there are translation stop codons in aLL three reading frames. pSV2 STOP was Linearized with SacI, and the resulting 3' protruding 2 end was removed using the exonucLease activity of DNA poLymerase I. Then digestion with EcoRI was carried out. After Ligation with an EcoRI-HpaI fragment 133 bp in size from pBB3 Bourachot et aL., EMBO J. 1 (1982) 895-900), which has the SV40 poLyadenyLation signal for earLy transcripts, it was possible to obtain the expression vector pSVA STOP1.

The poLyadenyLation site can aLso be isoLated from the vector pIG6 (Bourachot et aL., Loc. cit.). It is possibLe in exactly the same way to isoLate from the gene the 133bp BamHI-HpaI fragment, to fiLL in the SBamHI cLeavage site, and to attach an EcoRI Linker.

pSVA STOP1 thus has, between the SV40 earLy promotor and the SV40 poLyadenyLation signal for early transcripts, a cLoning poLyLinker with three unique restriction sites (HindIII-SaLI-Xbal) and a sequence with transLation stops in aLL three reading frames.

39- C) Construction of DHFR expression vectors for cotransfection The starting point for the DHFR vectors used for the cotransfection was the plasmid pMTVdhfr (Lee et aL., Loc.

cit.). pMTVdhfr was cut with BgLII, and the protruding ends of the DNA were filled in using DNA polymerase I (KLenow fragment). After digestion with EcoRI, a fragment 4.47 kb in size was isolated and Ligated with a 133 bp EcoRI-Hpal fragment from pBB3 (Bourachot et aL., Loc. cit.). The new pLasmid pMTVAdhfr has the mouse DHFR cDNA fLanked by MMTV-LTR and the SV40 poLyadenylation site for early transcripts.

pSVOAdhfr was obtained from pMTVAdhfr by deLetion of a HindIII fragment which is 1450 bp in size and has the

MMTV-LTR.

Neither pMTVAdhfr nor pSVOAdhfr have mRNA splice sites.

Claims (11)

1. 2. A DNA sequence which hybridizes under stringent conditions with the cDNA sequence as claimed in Claim 1 and encodes a protein having factor XIIIa activity.
2. 3. A DNA sequence coding for the amino acid sequence as herein defined in Table 3 (Appendix).
3. 4. A vector containing a DNA sequence as claimed in Claim 1, 2 or 3. A transformed cell containing a vector as claimed in Claim 4.
4. 6. A crude protein exhibiting factor XIIIa activity which is expressed by a transformed cell as claimed in Claim
5. 7. Recombinant factor XIIIa obtained from the crude protein as claimed in Claim 6.
6. 8. Recombinant factor XIIIa obtained by expression in bacteria, yeasts or animal cells transformed with the vector as claimed in Claim 4.
7. 9. A recombinant protein with factor XIIIa activity and containing the amino acid sequence as herein defined in Table 3 (Appendix), or parts thereof, and variants of this protein. o" cAa' Antibodies specific for recombinant factor XIIIa\or generated from parts thereof having antigenic activity. ALt 2 I 41
8. 11. A diagnostic aid containing an antigen as claimed in Claim 7, 8 or 9.
9. 12. A diagnostic aid which contains, in whole or in part, a DNA sequence as claimed in Claim 1, 2 or 3.
10. 13. A diagnostic method which comprises contacting body fluids or tissue with a diagnostic aid as claimed in Claim 11.
11. 14. A diagnostic method which comprises contacting nucleic acids isolated from body fluids or tissue with an diagnostic aid as claimed in Claim 12. A medicament which contains a recombinant factor XIIIa protein as claimed in Claim 7, 8 or 9. DATED this 26th day of July, 1990 BEHRINGWERKE AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT WATERMARK PATENT TRADEMARK ATTORNEYS THE ATRIUM 290 BURWOOD ROAD HAWTHORN, VICTORIA 3122 AUSTRALIA DBM/JMW:JJC