When the recombinant baculovirus containing the gene for the target protein is injected into the silkworm body, the target protein is expressed as the baculovirus replicates. The expressed target protein is collected from the silkworm body and then purified.
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
KAICO’s protein expression system is a platform that captures the best features while compensating for the weaknesses of other modalities.
E. coli and yeast often have post-translational modifications that differ from mammalian cells, making them unsuitable for synthesizing functional proteins. In contrast, proteins produced in silkworms undergo post-translational modifications that are closer to their natural state.
Moreover, using silkworm organisms enables superior expression levels. Despite being just 2-3 cm (1 inch) long, a single silkworm pupa can achieve expression levels equivalent to 100-1000 mL of insect cell cultures. Since each silkworm pupa functions as a bio-reactor, scaling up is possible by increasing the number of pupae used.
Our platform eliminates the need for the infrastructure traditionally required in bio-production by utilizing silkworm pupae as natural bio-reactors. Drawing from extensive experience in synthesizing diverse recombinant proteins, our optimized production methods contribute to cost reduction compared to other systems.