| Authors |
Peggy Stolt-Bergner, Christian Benda, Tim Bergbrede, Hüseyin Besir, Patrick H N Celie, Cindy Chang, David N. Drechsel, Ariane Fischer, Arie Geerlof, Barbara Giabbai, Joop van den Heuvel, Georg Huber, Wolfgang Knecht, Anita Lehner, Regis P. Lemaitre, Kristina Nordén, Gwynn Pardee, Ines Racke, Kim Remans, Astrid Sander, Judith Scholz, Magda Stadnik, Paola Storici, Daniel Weinbruch, Isabel Zaror, Linda H L Lua, Sabine Suppmann
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| Abstract |
Baculovirus-insect cell expression system has become one of the most widely used eukaryotic expression systems for heterologous protein production in many laboratories. The availability of robust insect cell lines, serum-free media, a range of vectors and commercially-packaged kits have supported the demand for maximizing the exploitation of the baculovirus-insect cell expression system. Naturally, this resulted in varied strategies adopted by different laboratories to optimize protein production. Most laboratories have preference in using either the E. coli transposition-based recombination bacmid technology (e.g. Bac-to-Bac®) or homologous recombination transfection within insect cells (e.g. flashBAC™). Limited data is presented in the literature to benchmark the protocols used for these baculovirus vectors to facilitate the selection of a system for optimal production of target proteins. Taking advantage of the Protein Production and Purification Partnership in Europe (P4EU) scientific network, a benchmarking initiative was designed to compare the diverse protocols established in thirteen individual laboratories. This benchmarking initiative compared the expression of four selected intracellular proteins (mouse Dicer-2, 204 kDa; human ABL1 wildtype, 126 kDa; human FMRP, 68 kDa; viral vNS1-H1, 76 kDa). Here, we present the expression and purification results on these proteins and highlight the significant differences in expression yields obtained using different commercially-packaged baculovirus vectors. The highest expression level for difficult-to-express intracellular protein candidates were observed with the EmBacY baculovirus vector system. |