Synthesis of a gene for human growth hormone and its expression in Escherichia coli

A gene coding for human growth hormone, which consists of 192 amino acids, was chemically synthesized. The synthesis entailed ligating 78 deoxyribooligonucleotides, which had been synthesized on polymer supports by the phosphotriester method with frequently occurring amino acid codons of Escherichia coli. The chemically synthesized gene was inserted into an E. coli plasmid downstream from the E. coli trp promoter, with a modified ribosome-binding region carried on pBR322. E. coli cells transformed with this recombinant plasmid synthesized 2.9 X 10(6) molecules per cell of human growth hormone upon induction. The induced polypeptide was identical with natural human growth hormone in size and in immunological properties, as well as in biological activity as examined by the tibial test with hypophysectomized rats.