Medium-throughput production of recombinant human proteins: ligation-independent cloning

Structural genomics groups have identified the need to generate multiple truncated versions of each target to improve their success in producing a well-expressed, soluble, and stable protein and one that crystallizes and diffracts to a sufficient resolution for structural determination. At the SGC, we opted for the Ligation-Independent Cloning (LIC) method which provides the medium throughput we desire to produce and screen many proteins in a parallel process. Here, we describe our LIC protocol for generating constructs in a 96-well format and provide a choice of vectors suitable for expressing proteins in both E. coli and the baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS).