Cell-Free Protein Expression

Cell-free expression system produces proteins in vitro through translation machineries extracted from cells. It has become a well-developed technique for synthesizing proteins in cell lysates. This approach meets with the increasing demands for a more straightforward, rapid and efficient way of protein production. Cell-free expression overcomes many obstacles of conventional cellular expression. Firstly, it is ideal for high-throughput screening of mutagenesis. Moreover, the system works independently and is free of cellular context. The whole machinery sets up a better environment to manufacture toxic proteins, membrane proteins and proteins that would be easily degraded by intracellular proteases. In addition, the reaction steps can be simply manipulated by adding/removing certain factors, such as cofactors, energy sources, detergents and so on.

Cell-free expression system makes proteins that cannnot be produced by conventional systems. Generally, components of a cell free reaction include a cell extract, an energy source, a supply of amino acids, cofactors and the gene of your interest. It produces protein using biological machinery without the direct use of living cells.

Different kinds of cell-free expression systems are used for various purposes. E. coli lysate is the simplest system, which is a well-established method for high-yield production of prokaryotic proteins. Rabbit Reticulocyte Lysate (RRL) is one of the most widely used eukaryotic systems. It has higher efficiency and fewer errors than that of E. coli. Wheat germ lysate is another popular eukaryotic expression system, the yield of which is higher than any other eukaryotic systems. Also, it is ideal for the expression of large-size proteins. Moreover, the lysate contains little endogenous mRNA contamination. Insect cell lysate is also suitable for large-size protein expression. Human cell lysate provides the most complete set of posttranslational modifications, which makes it a perfect choice for the production of native human proteins.

Profacgen provides you with an ultimate solution of cell-free protein production. Our service can be tailored according to your specialized requirements (tag selection, purity etc.). Our expertise guarantees high protein quality, short turnaround time, and the best price in the market!