Rapid production of milligram quantities of proteins in a batch cell-free protein synthesis system

Abstract

We developed a cell-free protein synthesis system that produces more than 1mg/ml of recombinant proteins in two hours. A basal system that supports the stable maintenance of ATP and amino acids was constructed by using high concentrations of CP (100 mM) and amino acids (3 mM). Approximately 0.6 mg/ml of protein was produced during the batch incubation of the basal system. We found that the accumulation of inorganic phosphate reduces the concentration of free magnesium ions and that there exists a critical concentration of magnesium at which the protein synthesis is halted. Based on this finding, we attempted to extend the duration of the protein synthesis by keeping the magnesium concentration sufficiently high throughout the reaction period. The protein synthesis reaction continued for at least 2 h when the reaction was repeatedly supplemented with magnesium, and approximately 1.2 mg/ml of active CAT or GFP was produced. The simple, fast, and highly productive cell-free protein synthesis system described herein should offer a versatile platform for the preparation of protein molecules in various post-genomic efforts.