Post-production protein stability: trouble beyond the cell factory

Being protein function a conformation-dependent issue, avoiding aggregation during production is a major challenge in biotechnological processes, what is often successfully addressed by convenient upstream, midstream or downstream approaches. Even when obtained in soluble forms, proteins tend to aggregate, especially if stored and manipulated at high concentrations, as is the case of protein drugs for human therapy. Post-production protein aggregation is then a major concern in the pharmaceutical industry, as protein stability, pharmacokinetics, bioavailability, immunogenicity and side effects are largely dependent on the extent of aggregates formation. Apart from acting at the formulation level, the recombinant nature of protein drugs allows intervening at upstream stages through protein engineering, to produce analogue protein versions with higher stability and enhanced therapeutic values.