Production of recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli

Attempts to obtain a recombinant protein using prokaryotic expression systems can go from a rewarding and rather fast procedure to a frustrating time-consuming experience. In most cases production of heterologous proteins in Escherichia coli K12 strains has remained an empirical exercise in which different systems are tested without a careful insight into the various factors affecting adequate expression of the encoded protein. The present review will deal with E. coli as protein factory and will cover some of the aspects related to transcriptional and translational expression signals, factors affecting protein stability and solubility and targeting of proteins to different cell compartments. Based on the knowledge accumulated over the last decade, we believe that the rate of success for those dedicated to expression of recombinant proteins based on the use E coli strains can still be significantly improved.