One of the major concerns to companies producing recombinant proteins is the cost-intensive downstream processes involved in protein extraction and purification. It is estimated that nearly 80% of the costs involved in production of recombinant proteins is due to downstream processes alone. Thus advances in recombinant protein export may provide a cost effective solution to the problem of downstream processing. We designed two bio bricks based on the concept of protein export. Parts (Ycdb) and (TorA) are N-terminal sequences found in proteins which are exported by the TAT Pathway in E. coli. Using standard assembly methods, these parts can be fused to a protein of interest which could enable these proteins to be secreted out of the cell using the same TAT dependent pathway. This advance in protein export to drastically reduce protein purification costs, increase yields and provide an impetus to the biotech industry.
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