Expression of Functional Region of Peanut (Arachis hypogaea) Agglutinin Gene as an Active Lectin in Insect Cells

Natural peanut agglutinin (PNA) gene is expressed with a signal sequence of 23 amino acids and a C terminal peptide of 14 amino acids. Functionally active recombinant PNA having apparent subunit molecular weight of 29kD was obtained when expressed without signal peptide and non-essential C terminal peptide sequences in insect cells. Expression in insect cells (Sf9) was driven by a 129bp Spodoptera litura nucleopolyhedrosis virus (S/NPV) sequence containing its polyhedrin promoter.