title: A semicontinuous prokaryotic coupled transcription/translation system using a dialysis membrane.
abstract: This report describes a novel and simple cell-free protein synthesis system. In this paper, we prove that the short duration of protein synthesis in a conventional cell-free protein synthesis system of batch configuration can be attributed both to depletion of energy sources and deactivation of S30 extract by small-molecule byproducts produced during the protein synthesis. The reaction period of cell-free protein synthesis system could be extended through an operation of a continuous-flow cell-free protein synthesis system, which was originally developed by Spirin. However, inspite of the greatly extended reaction period, the final amount of cell-free produced protein was not significantly larger than that can be obtained from a batch system due to the reduced rate of protein synthesis. It was supposed that the reduced rate of protein synthesis in the continuous-flow system was attributed to leakage of translational components through the ultrafiltration membrane during the operation of the continuous-flow system. To solve such a problem of the continuous-flow system, we have developed and operated a novel reactor for cell-free protein synthesis. By use of this system, protein synthesis occurred for at least 14 h, yielding 1.2 mg/mL CAT protein. The present system is superior to the continuous-flow system as well as the conventional batch system in that it enables extremely high productivity without using any complex and hard-to-handle apparatus. As far as we know, the yield of cell-free protein synthesis given above is the best of the results reported to date.
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Program for Biochemical Engineering and Technology, College of Engineering, Seoul National University, Korea.
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: C Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Choi
mesh_terms: D002474:Cell-Free System; D015500:Chloramphenicol O-Acetyltransferase / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D003956:Dialysis; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D015500:Chloramphenicol O-Acetyltransferase