Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology (Feb 2021)

Challenges Associated With the Formation of Recombinant Protein Inclusion Bodies in Escherichia coli and Strategies to Address Them for Industrial Applications

  • Arshpreet Bhatwa,
  • Arshpreet Bhatwa,
  • Weijun Wang,
  • Yousef I. Hassan,
  • Nadine Abraham,
  • Nadine Abraham,
  • Xiu-Zhen Li,
  • Ting Zhou

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2021.630551
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9

Abstract

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Recombinant proteins are becoming increasingly important for industrial applications, where Escherichia coli is the most widely used bacterial host for their production. However, the formation of inclusion bodies is a frequently encountered challenge for producing soluble and functional recombinant proteins. To overcome this hurdle, different strategies have been developed through adjusting growth conditions, engineering host strains of E. coli, altering expression vectors, and modifying the proteins of interest. These approaches will be comprehensively highlighted with some of the new developments in this review. Additionally, the unique features of protein inclusion bodies, the mechanism and influencing factors of their formation, and their potential advantages will also be discussed.

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