AUTHOR=Ramon Ana , Señorale Mario , Marin Monica TITLE=Inclusion bodies: not that bad… JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology VOLUME=5 YEAR=2014 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2014.00056 DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2014.00056 ISSN=1664-302X ABSTRACT=

The formation of inclusion bodies (IBs) constitute a frequent event during the production of heterologous proteins in bacterial hosts. Although the mechanisms leading to their formation are not completely understood, empirical data have been exploited trying to predict the aggregation propensity of specific proteins while a great number of strategies have been developed to avoid the generation of IBs. However, in many cases, the formation of such aggregates can be considered an advantage for basic research as for protein production. In this review, we focus on this positive side of IBs formation in bacteria. We present a compilation on recent advances on the understanding of IBs formation and their utilization as a model to understand protein aggregation and to explore strategies to control this process. We include recent information about their composition and structure, their use as an attractive approach to produce low cost proteins and other promising applications in Biomedicine.