Expression, purification and antioxidant activity of recombinant human vascular endothelial growth factor B167 in Escherichia coli.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a major cause of visual impairment in the elderly, with oxidative stress as its core pathogenesis. Herein, a prokaryotic expression system in Escherichia coli (E. coli) BL21 was developed to yield recombinant human vascular endothelial growth factor B 167(VEGFB167), after systematic optimization of expression and purification parameters, the antioxidant capacity of the target protein was experimentally verified. VEGFB167 was efficiently expressed as inclusion bodies. Following chromatographic purification, the protein purity attained 97% with a concentration of 1.4 mg/mL. Cellular functional assays revealed that VEGFB167 significantly reduced reactive oxygen species, malondialdehyde, and lactate dehydrogenase release, enhanced both superoxide dismutase activity and SOD1/SOD2 gene expression level, inhibited apoptosis, and promoted cell proliferation. These results support further development of VEGFB167 as a biotherapeutic candidate for oxidative injury-triggered illnesses exemplified by AMD.