Expression and Purification of the Human Homeodomain TGIFLX

The homeobox genes are known to play a crucial role in controlling the development of multicellular organisms. The majority of these genes have been determined to express regulatory proteins act as a regulatory protein. These trans-acting factors regulate the expression of proteins that are necessary during the developmental processes throughout the body. TGIFLX/Y is a homeobox gene and it contains two genes: TGIFLX (X-linked) and TGIFLY (Y-linked) are specifically expressed in human adult testes. TGIFLX has originated from retrotransposition of TGIF2, located on long arm of chromosome 20 (q11.2-12), onto the X chromosome. To date, the role of TGIFLX/Y are unknown, therefore, in order to get insight into the potential roles of TGIFLX, we cloned and produced the GST-TGIFLX fusion protein. The purified protein was recognized by anti-GST antibodies. Through a single purification procedure using MagneGST beads, approximately 8 mg of the recombinant protein was obtained per liter from bacterial culture. The production of this recombinant protein will now permit the investigation of TGIFLX target genes as well as identification of co-factors or partner proteins involved in TGIFLX function in normal and abnormal development.