Expression and Purification of Porcine Rotavirus Structural Proteins in Silkworm Larvae as a Vaccine Candidate.

In this study, silkworm larvae were used for expression of porcine rotavirus A (KS14 strain) inner capsid protein, VP6, and outer capsid protein, VP7. Initially, VP6 was fused with Strep-tag II and FLAG-tag (T-VP6), and T-VP6 was fused further with the signal peptide of Bombyx mori 30k6G protein (30k-T-VP6). T-VP6 and 30 k-T-VP6 were then expressed in the fat body and hemolymph of silkworm larvae, respectively, with respective amounts of 330 μg and 50 μg per larva of purified protein.