Expression and purification of GST fusion proteins

An increasingly common strategy for expressing proteins and large peptides in prokaryotic systems is to express the protein of interest connected to a "tag" that provides the basis for rapid high-affinity purification. This unit describes the expression and purification of fusion proteins containing the 26-kDa glutathione-S-transferase protein as well as methods for cleaving the affinity tag and repurifying the target protein. Advantages of this popular fusion protein system include high protein yields, high-affinity one-step protein purification of the fusion protein, existence of several alternative protease cleavage sites for removing the affinity tag when required, and ease of removal of the cleaved affinity tag.