Food and Fermentation Industries >

2026 , Vol. 52 >Issue 13: 9 - 19

DOI: https://doi.org/10.13995/j.cnki.11-1802/ts.045999

Efficient recombinant expression of bovine serum albumin in Komagataella phaffii

  • LI Yan ,
  • TANG Haohao ,
  • ZHANG Ximin ,
  • GUAN Xin ,
  • LI Jianghua
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  • 1(Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University-School of Biotechnology, Wuxi 214122, China)
    2(Science Center for Future Foods, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China)
    3(Jiangsu Basic Research Center of Synthetic Biology, Wuxi 214122, China)

Received date: 2026-01-26

  Revised date: 2026-03-10

  Online published: 2026-07-31

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Abstract

Cell-based foods promise to supply animal protein through large-scale cell culture rather than animal farming.Bovine serum albumin (BSA) is an essential nutrient supplied by the culture medium, critical for maintaining cell survival and growth in vitro.Currently, most BSA in use is extracted from bovine serum, which is plagued by batch variability and contamination risks.Here, we report an engineered Komagataella phaffii platform for efficient production of recombinant BSA (rBSA).Through systematic screening of 17 promoters and 38 signal peptides, the combination of PAOX2m promoter and M4FI signal peptide proved optimal, achieving a 2.57-fold increase in rBSA yield compared to the starting strain.Subsequently, by screening for high-copy strains and co-expressing the molecular chaperone HRD1 and protein transcription factor HAC1, a high-yielding rBSA strain was obtained.This strain achieved a yield of 0.40 g/L rBSA in shake flask fermentation, 8 times that of the starting strain.Furthermore, the protein structure and bioactivity of purified rBSA were evaluated, confirming its natural-like secondary structure and excellent pro-proliferative effect on bovine mesenchymal stem cells.This work optimized the extracellular expression of rBSA in Komagataella phaffii and evaluated its potential application in cell-based food production.

Key words： BSA; Komagataella phaffii; signal peptide; promoter; helper factor

Cite this article

LI Yan , TANG Haohao , ZHANG Ximin , GUAN Xin , LI Jianghua . Efficient recombinant expression of bovine serum albumin in Komagataella phaffii[J]. Food and Fermentation Industries, 2026 , 52(13) : 9 -19 . DOI: 10.13995/j.cnki.11-1802/ts.045999

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