Expression of heterologous proteins in Aspergillus

Filamentous fungi, in particular those of the genus Aspergillus have been well exploited for their ability to produce high levels of extracellular proteins in an inexpensive manner. Since many human proteins with the potential to be used therapeutically are secreted and require post-translational modification for biological activity, eukaryotic expression-secretion systems have been targeted for development. Recent developments in DNA-mediated transformation systems have allowed the utilization of Aspergillus as a host for the production of recombinant proteins. Several features such as well-characterized genetics and the availability of many mutants make Aspergillus nidulans the organism of choice for development of expression secretion systems. Recombinant strains contain integrated expression cassettes often in multiple copy, which are mitotically stable. In this review, we discuss the recent progress made in the use of Aspergillus as expression secretion hosts for the production of proteins of therapeutic significance.