Insect Platform

The development of genetically engineered cell lines to express therapeutically valuable recombinant proteins has created a major break-through in health care. While the earliest methods of expressing recombinant proteins relied on bacterial systems, it is now recognized that the pharmacology and efficacy of recombinant proteins produced for therapeutic applications are affected by post-translational modifications such as glycosylation and phosphorylation. This has led to the use of higher order cell systems such as insect cell systems.

Insect cells have the ability to glycosylate and further modify proteins, and a number of recombinant proteins of potential therapeutic value have been expressed in insect cell systems. One of the most important insect cell expression systems for this type of application utilizes baculoviruses, propagated in the army worm, Spodoptera frugiperda, to produce recombinant proteins.

Because of the potential therapeutic applications of these proteins, there has been an increased emphasis on eliminating animal-source components from the media used to grow these cells. To address that need, Sigma-Aldrich has developed a number of serum-free media for insect cell culture applications.

Insect Media

Companion Products and Reagents

Transfection Products

TiterHigh™ Sf Insect Medium