Application of TEV Protease in Protein Production

In many cases, the analysis of a specific protein is impeded by the inability to purify large amounts of it from a native source. Proteins of interest may be present in minute quantities and/or purification may be plagued with technical problems. Recombinant DNA methodologies have enabled researchers to circumvent some of these limitations by producing and purifying large quantities of protein in a nonnative system. Various systems and strategies have been successfully employed, depending on the specific protein of interest and the desired use of the final end product (antibody production, crystallography studies etc.). This chapter reviews some common methods for the production of recombinant fusion proteins and specifically describes a versatrle method for the removal of affinity tags from recombinant fusions using a highly purified proteinase with an unparalleled degree of specificity. This proteinase, from the genome of tobacco etch virus (TEV), demonstrates specific proteolytic activity under a wide range of parameters (salt, temperature, pH), making it an excellent choice for cleavage of fusion proteins (1,2).