John P. Hall

Protein expression remains an arduous task that involves a complex decision tree. Establishing tools and optimal conditions for each protein remains an empirical exercise.

Rapid, efficient, and cost-effective protein expression and purification strategies are required for high throughput structural genomics and the production of therapeutic proteins. Fusion protein technology represents one strategy to achieve these goals. Fusion protein technology can facilitate purification, enhance protein expression and solubility, chaperone proper folding, reduce protein degradation, and in some cases, generate protein with a native N-terminus. No technology or reagent is a panacea, however, and establishing tools and optimal conditions for each protein remains an empirical exercise. With this in mind, protein fusions are a leading option to produce difficult-to-express proteins, especially in Escherichia coli.