A Novel Oxygen-induced Expression Vector for Production of Recombinant Proteins in Escherichia Coli

This technology includes a new method to induce recombinant protein expression in E. coli through the activating the SoxS promoter by molecular oxygen. We previously discovered that the SoxRS regulon of E. coli is activated in response to elevated dissolved oxygen concentration mainly to protect the bacteria from possible oxygen damage. We hypothesized that the 16-fold increase in the expression of this regulon make it possible candidate for inducing the expression of recombinant proteins. Compared with the existing induction approaches oxygen induction offers several advantages; it does not involve addition or depletion of growth factors or nutrients, addition of chemical inducers or temperature changes that can affect growth and metabolism of the producing bacteria. It also offers another advantage by not affecting the composition of the growth media simplifying the recovery and purification process.