Protein Expression (biotechnology)

Protein Expression (biotechnology)

Protein expression is a subcomponent of gene expression. It consists of the stages after DNA has been transcribed to messenger RNA (mRNA). The mRNA is then translated into polypeptide chains, which are ultimately folded into proteins. Protein expression is commonly used by proteomics researchers to denote the measurement of the presence and abundance of one or more proteins in a particular cell or tissue.

Protein expression systems are very widely used in the life sciences, biotechnology and medicine. Molecular biology research uses numerous proteins and enzymes many of which are from expression systems; particularly DNA polymerase for PCR, reverse transcriptase for RNA analysis and restriction endonucleases for cloning. There are also significant medical applications for expression systems, notably the production of human insulin to treat diabetes. Protein expression systems are used to produce certain proteins in biotechnology and industry, and more recently to produce sets (combinatorial series) of protein that are screened for drug discovery purpose.