A soluble version of the pertussis toxin S1 subunit can be expressed in E. coli and retains affinity for hu1B7. Truncated S1 in a pAK400 expression vector was produced in BL21(DE3), harvested by osmotic shock, and purified by immobilized metal affinity chromatography and size exclusion. a, SDS-PAGE of truncated S1 (S1-220K, 25.9 kDa) and full-length PTx (26.1 kDa). b, Western blot of S1-220K and PTx, probed by hu1B7 and GαhFc-HRP. c, ELISA of hu1B7 on a 4 nm coat of PTx or S1-220K, detected by GαhFc-HRP.