Synthesis and assembly of functionally active human vascular endothelial growth factor homodimers in insect cells.

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is an angiogenic growth factor with a target-cell specificity highly restricted to vascular endothelial cells. Recombinant baculovirus were constructed for the production of two different forms of the human VEGF protein in insect cells. VEGF165 and VEGF121 proteins produced by Sf158 cells underwent a similar processing compared with mammalian cells, including efficient glycosylation, formation of a disulfide-linked dimer and secretion into the media.

High-efficiency expression of rat protein kinase C-gamma in baculovirus-infected insect cells.

We have expressed rat protein kinase C-gamma in insect cells using a baculovirus vector. The yield of expressed protein kinase C-gamma is about 4% of total protein. The recombinant protein shows a prominent band at about 80 kDa on SDS-polyacrylamide gels, which can be identified as protein kinase C-gamma by Western blotting using monoclonal antibodies against protein kinase C-gamma.