Chapter 15
An Overview of Cell Culture Engineering
for the Insect Cell-Baculovirus Expression
Vector System (BEVS)
Laura A. Palomares, Mauricio Realpe, and Octavio T. Ramı ´rez
Abstract The insect cell-baculovirus protein expression vector system (BEVS)
has gained increasing attention as more of its products are approved for human use.
However, the system has been relevant for many years, being used for the
manufacturing of recombinant veterinary vaccines, as a workhorse in the research
laboratory, as an important tool for new drug discovery and as an important source
of commercial materials and reagents for research. In this chapter, the key elements
that should be considered for the design of a productive BEVS process are
discussed, along with a presentation of the state of the art of the system.
Keywords Insect cells, baculovirus expression vector system • Recombinant pro-
tein production, transient gene expression
15.1 Introduction
The insect cell-baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS) is a system for the
expression of recombinant proteins that consists of a continuous insect cell line
(or insect larvae) that is infected with a baculovirus containing a gene of interest.
The system was developed by Gale Smith and Max Summers (Smith et al. 1983). It
is a highly versatile system that can be used for the production of one recombinant
protein, or to simultaneously express various genes. It has several advantages that
have made it the system of choice for a wide number of applications. Some of the
advantages are listed below:
(a) High expression of the gene of interest. The baculovirus contains one of the
strongest promoters known, the promoter of polh. At 48 h after infection, the
L.A. Palomares (*) • O.T. Ramı ´rez
Departamento de Medicina Molecular y Bioprocesos, Instituto de Biotecnologı ´a,
Universidad Nacional Aut onoma de Me ´xico, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico
e-mail: laura@ibt.unam.mx
M. Realpe
Diagn ostico Clı ´nico y Molecular DICLIM, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015
M. Al-Rubeai (ed.), Animal Cell Culture, Cell Engineering 9,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-10320-4_15
501