Expression of human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16) L1 protein in Pichia pastoris

To investigate the production of human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16) L1 structural protein in Pichia pastoris, the effect of different gene constructs and varying cultivation conditions on production levels were assessed. The highest volumetric production levels in P. pastoris were obtained with a human codon-optimised gene construct. This construct displayed both the lowest codon adaptation index (CAI) and the highest guanine-cytosine (GC) content of the three constructs investigated. Dissolved oxygen (DO) controlled cultivations produced superior results compared to a constant methanol feeding (CMF) strategy, delivering the highest volumetric HPV L1 protein concentration (104.8 mu g.l(-1)) at a 20% DO set-point. This was concomitant with an increased biomass concentration in the DO controlled cultivations.