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Review
. 2024 Nov 28;12(12):1344.
doi: 10.3390/vaccines12121344.

Protein Expression Platforms and the Challenges of Viral Antigen Production

Jamie R V Sookhoo  1   2 , Zachary Schiffman  3   4 , Aruna Ambagala  1   4 , Darwyn Kobasa  3   4 , Keith Pardee  5   6 , Shawn Babiuk  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Protein Expression Platforms and the Challenges of Viral Antigen Production

Jamie R V Sookhoo et al. Vaccines (Basel). .

Abstract

Several protein expression platforms exist for a wide variety of biopharmaceutical needs. A substantial proportion of research and development into protein expression platforms and their optimization since the mid-1900s is a result of the production of viral antigens for use in subunit vaccine research. This review discusses the seven most popular forms of expression systems used in the past decade-bacterial, insect, mammalian, yeast, algal, plant and cell-free systems-in terms of advantages, uses and limitations for viral antigen production in the context of subunit vaccine research. Post-translational modifications, immunogenicity, efficacy, complexity, scalability and the cost of production are major points discussed. Examples of licenced and experimental vaccines are included along with images which summarize the processes involved.

Keywords: protein expression; subunit vaccines; synthetic biology; viral antigens.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Molecular cloning overview.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Bacterial expression system.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Insect cell (baculovirus) expression system.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Mammalian expression system.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Yeast expression system.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Algal expression system.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Plant expression system.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Cell-free expression system.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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