Baculovirus expression vectors for optimal recombinant protein and virus-like particle production

Abstract

Figure 1. (1) A recombinant baculovirus is produced by simply co-transfecting insect cells with the flashBAC virus DNA and a suitable transfer vector containing ‘the gene(s) under investigation. (2) Homologous recombination within the insect cells restores the function of an essential gene that is partly deleted in flashBAC (ORF1629), allowing the flashBAC virus DNA to replicate and produce virus particles. This also simultaneously inserts ‘the gene(s) under investigation’ into the virus DNA under the control of the polyhedrin promoter. (3) The recombinant virus genome, with the restored essential gene, replicates to produce baculovirus that can be harvested from the culture medium of the transfected insect cells that forms a seed stock of recombinant virus. As it is not possible for non-recombinant virus to replicate there is no need for any selection system. • flashBACULTRA viruses were generated as described in Figure 1, each containing gene(s) that expressed protein(s), which self-assemble into VLPs.