Production of an active Mus musculus IL-3 using updated silkworm-based baculovirus expression vector system

Abstract Due to the biological significance and therapeutic potential of Interleukin-3 (IL-3) secreted mainly by activated T cells, various protein expression systems have been challenged to produce recombinant IL3 to meet the increasing demands worldwide. Recently, we established an updated silkworm-based baculovirus expression vector system (silkworm-BEVS), which in most cases, produces eukaryotic proteins in biological or enzymatical active forms with considerable amounts. We attempted to reconstruct and express a recombinant mouse IL-3 (rMmIL-3) with C-terminal His8-Strep tags in silkworm-BEVS in the current study. From our results, we gained an active glycosylated rMmIL-3 protein in a substantial amount and quality. As compared with the E. coli expression system, silkworm-BEVS is a better choice regarding the glycosylations attached in rMmIL-3 and up-scalable system in case that a commercial amount is required in the future. Collectively, our method shares an excellent model to produce interleukin molecular for approaching pharmaceutical applications.