ABSTRACT
432The field of recombinant protein production has attained widespread popularity due to the enormous applications of recombinant proteins in therapeutics, diagnostics or to understand basic biological questions. Several factors hamper efficient production of recombinant human proteins in a foreign host. Such aspects are needed to be addressed meticulously in order to increase the expression and yield of the protein while retaining its biological activity. Choice of host system is one of the most critical criterion. Escherichia coli, a Gram-negative bacterium, is a commonly used bacterial host for the production of recombinant proteins. Its use as a cell factory is well-established due to the vast knowledge of its genetics and physiology. Other features include faster doubling time, low-maintenance costs and ability to express proteins in abundance. Hence, several molecular tools and approaches have been developed for enhanced expression and production of heterologous proteins, such as codon optimization soft-wares, a vast catalogue of expression plasmids and engineered strains, and various purification and production strategies. In this review, we discuss these essential prerequisite factors for enhanced expression and yield of human proteins in E. coli, and highlight the biomedical applications of such recombinant proteins in this ever-growing field.
