[31] Baculovirus-mediated expression of human multidrug resistance cDNA in insect cells and functional analysis of recombinant P-glycoprotein

This chapter discusses the baculovirus-mediated expression of human multidrug resistance (MDR) cDNA in insect cells. High-level expression of recombinant P-glycoprotein is described with varying degrees of success in several heterologous expression systems, including bacteria, yeast, and insect cells. Heterologous expression of MDR cDNAs in insect cells by recombinant baculovirus expression vectors is quite successful and has contributed significantly to the recent progress in the study of the structure–function relationship of the human MDR1 P-glycoprotein, its substrate interactions, and the role of its posttranslational modifications. The baculovirus expression system is safe because of the high species specificity of baculoviruses that infect insect cells exclusively. Baculoviruses have the capacity to package and express relatively large foreign genes. The wide use of the baculovirus expression system has lead to the development and commercial availability of novel technologies and experimental kits that allow for reliable and rapid expression of heterologous gene products as full-length proteins and as fusion proteins.