Biofactories. expression of recombinant proteins in insect larvae

URTASUN NICOLÁS; ALEXANDRA TARGOVNIK; LAURA FALETTI; OSVALDO CASCONE; MARIA VICTORIA MIRANDA

Larvae: Morphology, Biology and Life Cycle

, Nova Science Publishers,

Lugar: New York; Año: 2012; p. 1 - 9

In Biotechnology, the expression of recombinant proteins is a constantly growing field and different hosts are used for this purpose. Insects from the order Lepidoptera infected with recombinant baculovirus have appeared as a good choice to express high levels of proteins, especially those with post-translational modifications. Lepidopteran insects are extensively distributed in the world. Species like Bombyx mori(silkworm) have been explored in Asian countries to produce a great number of recombinant proteins for academic and industrial purposesSeveral recombinant proteins produced in silkworms have already been commercialized. On the other hand, species like Spodoptera frugiperda, Heliothis virescens, Rachiplusia nu, Trichoplusia ni are widely distributed in the occidental world. The expression of recombinant proteins based on Lepidoptera has the advantage of its low cost in comparison with insect cell cultures. A wide variety of recombinant proteins, including enzymes, hormones and vaccines, have been efficiently expressed with intact biological activity. The expression of pharmaceutically relevant proteins, including cell/viral surface proteins and membrane proteins using insect larvae or cocoons, has become very attractive. This chapter describes the methods for scaling up the protein production using insect larvae as biofactories.