A barley seed is considered as a natural protein storage organ. Thanks to its unique genetic engineering, barley seed endosperm has recently been used as a bioreactor to produce human proteins.
View our human proteins expressed in barley.
Barley is a Eukaryote
The barley expression system provides unique features including; proficient protein machinery, eukaryotic folding, long-term protein protection and storage.
- Localized seed accumulation
- Less complex protein profile
- Low in phenolics
- Natural protein storage organ
Advantages
It is known that endotoxins, pyrogenic agents and pro-inflammatory agents result in unwanted cell responses; such as cell proliferation, chemokine release and inflammatory cascades.
The cytokines and growth factors expressed in barley offer the following benefits:
- Animal- and serum-free
- Endotoxin-free
- Antibiotic-free
- Low in proteolytic and pyrogenic activities
- Comparable for eukaryotic glycolsylation
- Fully folded naturally
One of the advantages of using plants as a production host is their ability to perform eukaryotic glycosylation of recombinant products. Furthermore, plant glycosylation seems to reduce the risk of aggregation of the growth factor, when compared to non-glycosylated bacterially produced growth factors.
Improved bioactivity
The cytokines and growth factors expressed in this system possess eukaryotic folding and post-translational modifications, providing further advantages in product processing and performance.
Find below examples comparing the bioactivity of proteins expressed in barley with proteins expressed in E.coli.
View our human proteins expressed in barley.
