Engineering of the baculovirus expression system for optimized protein production

Abstract

Baculoviruses are arthropod-specific large circular double-stranded DNA viruses successfully used for the control of multipleinsect pests. In addition to their application in pest control, baculoviruses have become a versatile and powerful eukaryotic vectorfor the production of large quantities of recombinant proteins for research and biomedical purposes. Since the first recombinantprotein was expressed in 1983 using the baculovirus expression system (BEVS), different strategies have been developed for thegeneration of recombinant viruses and to increase the stability, yield, and posttranslational modifications of recombinant proteins.In this review, we summarize the main methods and elements playing a role in the BEVS emphasizing recent progresses andfuture developments with respect to the main aspects involved in protein production using the BEVS.