Recombinant insulin production involves fusion with:
Early industrial production human insulin 1982 relied fusion protein technology because small 51 aa insulin A 21 B 30 rapidly degraded bacterial cytoplasm proteases Lon Clp if expressed mature alone. Genentech team Riggs Boyer Goeddel chemically synthesized DNA encoding insulin chains separately fused carboxy terminus E. coli beta-galactosidase 1024 aa enzyme encoded lacZ or trp leader peptide. Large fusion drove formation insoluble inclusion bodies protecting heterologous peptide from proteolysis enabling purification centrifugation detergent washes. Construct single methionine codon junction
Ref: Science History Institute Recombinant Insulin LacZ Fusion 1982; NCBI Bookshelf Insulin Fusion Production; Goeddel et al PNAS 1979 Insulin Expression.
