title: Cell-free expression--making a mark.
abstract: Cell-free protein production opens new perspectives for the direct manipulation of expression compartments in combination with reduced complexity of physiological requirements. The technology is therefore in particular suitable for the general synthesis of difficult proteins including toxins and membrane proteins as well as for the analysis of their functional folding in artificial environments. A further key application of cell-free expression is the fast and economic labeling of proteins for structural and functional applications. Two extract sources, wheat embryos and Escherichia coli cells, are currently employed for the preparative scale cell-free production of proteins. Recent achievements in structural characterization include cell-free synthesized membrane proteins and even larger protein assemblies may become feasible.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biophysical Chemistry, Centre for Biomolecular Magnetic Resonance, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. fbern@bpc.uni-frankfurt.de
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bernhard
authors.forename: Yuzuru
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tozawa
mesh_terms: D002457:Cell Extracts; D002474:Cell-Free System / Q000378:metabolism*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D012639:Seeds / Q000378:metabolism*; D014908:Triticum / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D002457:Cell Extracts; D008565:Membrane Proteins