Preventing Proteolytic Artifacts in the Baculovirus Expression System

The baculovirus expression system has become established as a popular method for obtaining high levels of recombinant protein synthesis in a eukaryotic environment. In a number of cases, however, researchers have reported decreased product quality and yield resulting from proteolytic activity late in the course of infection. The enzyme most likely to cause this degradation is V-CATH, a cysteine protease encoded by Autographa californica M nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV), the parent virus of the most common baculovirus expression vectors.