Proteins interferon production

McGovern, A. C. Ernill, R. Kara, B. V. Kell, D. B. Goodacre, R. Rapid analysis of the expression of heterologous proteins in Escherichia coli using pyrolysis mass spectrometry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy with chemometrics Application to a2- interferon production. J. Biotechnol. 1999, 72,157-167. 

McGovern et al.26 analyzed the expression of heterologous proteins in E. coli via pyrolysis mass spectrometry and FT-IR. The application was to a2-interferon production. To analyze the data, artificial neural networks (ANN) and PLS were utilized. Because cell pastes contain more mass than the supernatant, these were used for quantitative analyses. Both the MS and IR data were difficult to interpret, but the chemometrics used allowed researchers to gain some knowledge of the process. The authors show graphics indicating the ability to follow production via either technique. 

Several models, yet relatively little direct evidence has been presented to explain the genetic regulation of interferon production. No matter what model may be built to accomodate all known facts, it should be composed, in its simplest form, of an operon (interferon gene), a repressor protein, and a mRNA. The repressor protein may combine with the operator of the operon (referred to as transcriptional control in Fig. 7) in this state, the interferon gene would be repressed. It would be derepressed if the repressor is inactivated, e.g. following contact of the cell with the interferon inducer. The derepressed interferon gene would then be transcribed to mRNA, which in turn is translated to interferon. Hypothetically, the repressor protein may also combine with the mRNA for interferon (referred to as translational control), and even with the interferon molecule itself (referred to as posttranslational control in Fig. 7). 

It is now known that many of the mushrooms presently under cultivation rank above all vegetable and legumes (except soybeans) in protein content, and have significant levels of B and C vitamins and are low in fat. Research has shown that certain cultivated mushrooms reduce serum cholesterol, inhibit tumors, stimulate interferon production and possess antiviral properties. It is no surprise, therefore, that as food plants were developed into cultivars, mushrooms were among those selected. 

A quite different approach to antiviral drugs is to seek small molecules which can stimulate the formation of interferon in the host. Interferon is a small protein whose production in the human body is normally stimulated by the presence of a virus, and which causes the host cell to produce an antiviral protein. Human interferon is non-toxic to man and has a broad spectrum of antiviral activity. Small, and inadequate supplies can be obtained from the pooled leucocytes of blood banks. Interferon from other mammals is ineffective in man. Although polynucleotides and some other... 

Therapeutics. Therapeutic materials represent a class of polypeptides that are a low volume, high value product. The production system need not be very efficient but the quaHty of the recombinant protein has to be extremely pure (33,34). Thus high cost mammalian production systems can be tolerated. However, some of the therapeutic proteins such as insulin, human growth hormone, interleukins, interferon, and streptokinase are produced microbially. 

The key end result of TLR signalling is the induction of cytokines. Cytokines are proteins produced during an immune response that allow the maturation, activation and differentiation of effector cells in the immune system. The activation of NFkB and AP-1 by the MyD88 and the TREF dependent pathways leads to the production of proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-6, TNF-a and various chemokines. This pathway can also activate IRF-7 via TLR-7and TLR-9 allowing Type-I interferons to be produced. 

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