La glándula mamaria: Biofábrica para la producción de proteínas recombinantes

Abstract

Biological systems for the expression of recombinant proteins have evolved from microorganisms, such as bacteria and yeast, to animal and plant cells. This evolution has been driven mainly by the specific post-translational modifications required for many recombinant proteins to display full biological activity. In this review we discuss the main advantages and drawbacks of the currently available expression systems, stressing the potential of the mammary gland as a biofactory. Several methods for the genetic modification of this organ have been developed; the choice of the method depends on the specific characteristics of the molecule to be expressed, and the time taken to secrete the final product. However, the mammary gland glycosylation machinery is limited to the synthesis of biantennary monosialylated complex oligosaccharides.