Abstract
The expression and harvesting of proteins from insoluble inclusion bodies by solubilization and refolding is a technique commonly used in the production of recombinant proteins. Despite the importance of refolding, publications in the literature are essentially ad hoc reports consisting of a dazzling array of experimental protocols and a diverse collection of buffer cocktails. For the protein scientists, using this information to refold their protein of interest presents enormous challenges. Here, we describe some of the practical considerations in refolding and present several standard protocols. Further, we describe how refolding procedures can be designed and modified using the information in the REFOLD database (http://refold.med.monash.edu.au), a freely available, open repository for protocols describing the refolding and purification of recombinant proteins.
Key words
- Protein expression
- Refolding
- Renaturation
- Inclusion body
- Aggregate
- Refold
- Misfolding
- Solubilization
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the contribution of all the researchers whose published data has been entered into REFOLD. This work was supported by grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council, the Victorian State Government, and the Victorian Partnership for Advanced Computing. SPB is a Monash University Senior Logan Fellow and NHMRC Senior Research Fellow. AMB is an NHMRC Senior Research Fellow.
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Phan, J., Yamout, N., Schmidberger, J., Bottomley, S.P., Buckle, A.M. (2011). Refolding Your Protein with a Little Help from REFOLD. In: Hill, A., Barnham, K., Bottomley, S., Cappai, R. (eds) Protein Folding, Misfolding, and Disease. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 752. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-223-0_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-223-0_4
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