Use of Insect Cell Culture for Production of Proteins and Viral Pesticides

昆虫细胞-杆状病毒系统作为一种从重组DNA中生产蛋白质的实验室或小规模系统已得到迅速和广泛的接受，由昆虫细胞系统生产的“艾滋病疫苗”正在临床试验中。该系统具有安全、生产率高、活性蛋白生产普遍可靠、翻译后加工程度高等优点。由于昆虫细胞的翻译后加工机制与哺乳动物细胞不同，因此昆虫细胞系统中最好产生的蛋白质类型可能存在一些限制。然而，来自昆虫细胞的产品通常会引起强烈的免疫原性反应，并且该系统似乎特别适合用于疫苗生产和可能的抗体。此外，该病毒本身可能经过基因工程改造，以提高其作为一种安全、特异和有效的杀虫剂对付主要作物害虫和森林害虫的特性。一名首席研究员（pi）在该国进行了第一次野外释放的基因工程病毒试验。该项目的总体目标是为利用昆虫细胞系可预测的大规模生产蛋白质和杀虫剂奠定基础。无论是生产蛋白质还是生产病毒杀虫剂，都需要更高效的生产系统。由于这些产品可能需要大量生产，并且可能对成本敏感（例如动物疫苗和生物杀虫剂），因此该系统的成功将在很大程度上取决于改进和新颖的工程设计。

The insect cell-baculovirus system has received rapid and wide acceptance as a laboratory or small-scale system for production of proteins from recombinant DNA, and an "AIDS vaccine" produced by insect cell systems is in clinical trials. This system offers advantages of safety, high productivity, generally reliable production of active proteins, and a high degree of post-translational processing. Since the post-translational processing machinery of insect cells is not identical to that of mammalian cells, there may be some limitation on the types of proteins that are best produced in insect cell systems. However, products from insect cells typically elicit a strong immunogenic response, and this system appears particularly well-suited for use in vaccine production and possibly for antibodies. In addition, the virus itself may be genetically-engineered to improve its properties as a safe, specific, and effective insecticide against major crop pests and forest insect pests. One of the Principal Investigators (PIs) has conducted the first tests in this country of a field released genetically-engineered virus. The overall objective of this project is the development of a basis for predictable large-scale production of proteins and insecticides using insect cell lines. For either production of proteins or viral pesticides, more efficient production systems will be required. Because these products may be required in large volumes, and are likely to be cost-sensitive (e.g. animal vaccines and bioinsecticides), the success of the system will be strongly dependent on improved and novel engineering design.