Biosynthesis and secretion of recombinant human growth hormone in Pichia pastoris

Mature human growth hormone (hGH) cDNA was cloned by homologous recombination into the yeast Pichia pastoris genome. The hGH gene expression was placed under the control of the methanol-inducible alcohol oxidase 1 (AOX1) gene promoter and the Saccharomyces cerevisiae alpha-factor signal sequence to direct the secretion of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) into the growth medium. O-2-limited induction of recombinant yeast strains in shake tubes with 3 ml of culture medium produced up to 11 mg rhGH l(-1), while high cell density cultures using a 2-l bioreactor produced about 49 mg rhGH l(-1) achieving 40% of total protein of the culture medium supernatant.