title: Use of baculovirus expression system for generation of virus-like particles: successes and challenges.
abstract: The baculovirus expression system (BES) has been one of the versatile platforms for the production of recombinant proteins requiring multiple post-translational modifications, such as folding, oligomerization, phosphorylation, glycosylation, acylation, disulfide bond formation and proteolytic cleavage. Advances in recombinant DNA technology have facilitated application of the BES, and made it possible to express multiple proteins simultaneously in a single infection and to produce multimeric proteins sharing functional similarity with their natural analogs. Therefore, the BES has been used for the production of recombinant proteins and the construction of virus-like particles (VLPs), as well as for the development of subunit vaccines, including VLP-based vaccines. The VLP, which consists of one or more structural proteins but no viral genome, resembles the authentic virion but cannot replicate in cells. The high-quality recombinant protein expression and post-translational modifications obtained with the BES, along with its capacity to produce multiple proteins, imply that it is ideally suited to VLP production. In this article, we critically review the pros and cons of using the BES as a platform to produce both enveloped and non-enveloped VLPs.
authors.affiliation: National Research Center for Exotic Animal Diseases, China Animal Health and Epidemiology Center, Qingdao, Shandong 266032, China.
authors.forename: Fuxiao
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Xiaodong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Zengshan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Zhiliang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016367:Baculoviridae / Q000235:genetics*; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D006801:Humans; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D058425:Vaccines, Virus-Like Particle / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014771:Virion / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D058425:Vaccines, Virus-Like Particle
keywords: Baculovirus; Baculovirus expression system; Bioprocess; Insect cells; Post-translational modification; Virus-like particle