When the recombinant baculovirus containing the gene for the target protein is injected into the silkworm body, the target protein is expressed as the virus replicates. The expressed target protein is then collected and purified from within the silkworm body.
Characteristics of protein production by silkworm-baculovirus expression system
High productivity
The silkworm itself serves as a bioreactor, with one silkworm being equivalent to 100ml-1000ml of insect cell culture. Unlike other expression systems, large-scale bioreactors are not required. As a result, multiple types of proteins can be produced in a small space, and scaling up production is also simple.
High expression success rate
By utilizing the living silkworm organism, proteins that are difficult to express in other modalities can be expected to have a high rate of successful expression.
High quality proteins
The proteins produced in silkworms receive post-translational modifications similar to their native forms, enabling the production of high-quality proteins.
Comparison with other modalities
