Expression, secretion and surface display of a human alkaline phosphatase by the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila

Abstract

With the expression of hiAP, not only a protein of commercial interest could be produced, but also a reporter enzyme that offers the possibility to analyze T. thermophila genes that play a role in the regulation of protein secretion. Additionally, the fact that ciliates do not secrete an endogenous alkaline phosphatase provides the possibility to use the truncated hiAP as a reporter enzyme, allowing the quantification of measures that will be necessary for further optimization of the host strains and the fermentation processes.