In Vitro Protein Folding- Future prospect or current Reality

[DanteHalden]

Hello All,

Today in class we were having a discussion about biologically relevant proteins in biotechnology (ie insulin). Our professor said that this field is huge/booming since there is such a problem with in vitro protein folding. Being a skeptic, I asked if they were able to get insulin (a multi-subunit protein) to fold and be functional, then why can't they get others to do the same. She said we should have a discussion next class. I've looked up some articles and they make it seem as though it should be easy (less hinderance, fewer cellular interactions, etc). And I feel the same, it seems as though if you placed the necessary chaperones in solution with the protein, or created an environment similar to the one involved in the folding- it should just happen.

My question is, are there any really good/current reviews of in vitro protein folding? And what is your view of future methods for this type of biotechnology?

Regards