Methods to Enhance Overexpression of Membrane Protein in Escherichia coli

Membrane proteins (MPs) are an important aspect of cell survival that ensure structural integrity, signaling, and transportation of molecules. Since 2015, over 450 MPs have been studied to find their functionalities and structure. Sufficient amounts of correctly folded MPs are needed to accurately study them through crystallography and other structural study methods. Use of recombinant technology is needed to overexpress MPs as natural abundance of MP is often too slow to provide the necessary amounts. However, an increase in toxicity and decrease in generation time deter the overexpression of MPs. The following report discusses two methods of enhancing overexpression in Escherchia coli, the use of T7 RNA polymerase (T7RNAP) and the reprogramming of chaperon pathways, that combats toxicity and promotes cell growth. Overall, both methods are proven to work effectively to overexpress MPs by regulating transcription rate of mRNA (T7RNAP) or folding and transporting of polypeptides to inner membrane (chaperon pathway). To further study the effectiveness of the two methods, they will need to be compared at the same conditions. In addition, a combination of two methods should also be studied to find out if the combination would have a great impact on the overexpression of the MPs.