Expression of Foreign Proteins in Trichoplusia ni Larvae

A large number of eukaryotic proteins have been successfully overproduced in insect cells infected with a natural pathogen, a baculovirus, in which foreign gene coding sequences were placed under the control of the viral polyhedrin gene promoter. This expression system is effective because many proteins are appropriately modified after translation, and production levels are often high in the host cells. However, a potential disadvantage of using standard recombinant baculovirus infection of insect cells is the cost associated with a large-scale tissue-culture operation.