Bissett, S.L.; Roy, P. Multi-Gene Recombinant Baculovirus Expression Systems: From Inception to Contemporary Applications. Viruses2024, 16, 492.
Bissett, S.L.; Roy, P. Multi-Gene Recombinant Baculovirus Expression Systems: From Inception to Contemporary Applications. Viruses 2024, 16, 492.
Bissett, S.L.; Roy, P. Multi-Gene Recombinant Baculovirus Expression Systems: From Inception to Contemporary Applications. Viruses2024, 16, 492.
Bissett, S.L.; Roy, P. Multi-Gene Recombinant Baculovirus Expression Systems: From Inception to Contemporary Applications. Viruses 2024, 16, 492.
Abstract
Many protein expression systems are primary utilised to produce a single, specific recombinant protein. In contrast, most biological processes such as virus assembly rely upon a complex of several interacting proteins rather than the activity of a sole protein. The high complexity of the baculovirus genome, coupled with a multiphase replication cycle incorporating distinct transcriptional steps, made it the ideal system to manipulate for high-level expression of a single or co-expression of multiple foreign proteins within a single cell. We have developed and utilised a series of recombinant baculovirus systems to unravel the sequential assembly process of a complex non-enveloped model virus, Bluetongue virus (BTV). The high protein yields expressed by the baculovirus system not only facilitated structure-function analysis of each viral proteins but were also advantageous to crystallography studies and supported the first atomic level resolution of a recombinant viral protein, the major BTV capsid protein. Further, the formation of recombinant double-shelled virus-like particles (VLPs) provided insights into the structure-function relationships among the four major structural proteins of the BTV whilst also representing a potential candidate for a viral vaccine. The baculovirus multi-gene expression system facilitated the study of structurally complex viruses (both non-enveloped and enveloped viruses) and heralded in a new generation of viral vaccines.
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