SUMO Technology and Difficult to Express Proteins

Fusion with SUMO (Small Ubiquitin Like Modifier) has revolutionized the way difficult to express proteins are made. The SUMO tag offers advantages over traditional expression methods. Mechanisms and benefits of SUMO mediated enhanced expressions include:

1. chaperoning properties of SUMO dramatically enhance translation of proteins/polypeptide
2. presence of globular protease resistant SUMO domain stabilizes proteins,
3. the most efficient SUMO protease reduce the cost of native protein production.
4. SUMO protease cleaves any amino acid sequence at the junction generating desired N-termini, especially important for cytokine, growth factors and chemokine to restore biological activity.

Lifesensors has compiled a list of publications with the SUMO Publication Search Sheet, demonstrating the reliability and performance of the tag.

Distinction Between SUMOpro and SUMOstar: Expression of Therapeutic Proteins in Mammalian Cells

SUMO pathway is conserved in eukaryotic cells. E. coli lacks SUMO pathway and SUMO proteases. Unlike SUMOpro that is used the express SUMO-fusion in E. coli, native SUMO-fusions are rapidly cleaved in eukaryotic cells. To circumvent this problem and to take advantage of chaperoning properties of SUMO in mammalian cells, the SUMO tag was engineered. The engineered SUMO is not cleaved thus preserving enhanced protein production properties of SUMO. The engineered SUMO is called SUMOstar. SUMOstar fusions are not cleaved by eukaryotic SUMO proteases. The isolated SUMOstar fusions from eukaryotic cells can be efficiently cleaved by SUMOstar protease in vitro.

Application of SUMOpro and SUMOstar continues to increase. ~1000 scholarly papers are published.

Application of SUMO System across the Biological Spectrum

• Therapeutic Proteins: SUMOPro technology is ideal for enhanced expression, increased solubility, and native folding in  coli. SUMOstar system for native proteins expression in mammalian cells.
• Polypeptide Synthesis SUMO the Best option: Chemical synthesis of polypeptides is prone to errors, not all chemically synthesized peptides fold correctly, and yield of polypeptides decreases along with the length of the polypeptide.
• Vaccine Production, SUMO System: coli provides an attractive platform to express animal vaccines for its low cost. SUMO system provides facility to increase yield and a tool to rapidly purify the antigen.
• SUMO For Nanobody Synthesis: Although mammalian cells have been proven as workhorses for antibody production, engineered single chain antibodies (Nanobodies) are especially difficult to manufacture in mammalian cells, SUMOpro, inexpensive method for Nanobodies production.
• SUMOstar to the Rescue: Gene Therapy: Despite the strong promoters, many genes are not expressed well in recombinant adeno associated viruses (rAAV) LifeSensors has established a human SUMOstar based system that allows under expressed or non-expressed genes to be delivered as SUMOstar fusion between rAAV ITR containing plasmids.

Browse our collection of SUMO expression kits and products, or continue reading about our more specific applications of SUMO.

Advantages of Choosing LifeSensors for Your Protein Expression Requirements

• Dramatically enhances protein expression while maintaining protein function
• Engineered SUMO proteases will result in intact native n-terminus 
• SUMOPro technology ideal for enhanced expression, increased solubility and native folding in E. coli
• SUMOPro3 designed with human SUMO tag for mammalian expression suitable for proteins that require post translational modifications
• SUMOstar technology for use in eukaryotic hosts – designed to resist endogenous proteases