ME: Collaborative Research: Deployment of Enhanced Stress Responses to Improve Recombinant Expression Systems

University Of California-Berkeley, Berkeley CA

Investigators

Abstract

The objective of this project is to improve recombinant expression systems. The major goals are to discover and characterize pathways that facilitate protein folding and subunit assembly in hyperthermophiles. The components of these pathways will be inserted into recombinant host cells to preempt induction of stress responses during recombinant expression, and to enhance the stabilization and solubilization of recombinant protein. Building on the approach and findings of the investigators previous research, the specific objectives are: (1) to determine the functions of interacting proteins encoded by the 23 genes in the heat shock regulon of the hyperthermophile, Pyrococcus furiosus, (2) to identify functional complexes of thermostable heat shock proteins and express them in E. coli, yeast and mammalian cells to enhance the durability of these cells, and (3) to determine the effects of combinations of chaperonins on high level recombinant expression of proteins in intact cells as well as cell-free transcription-translation systems.