pichia pastoris

Pichia pastoris is a methylotrophic yeast and can be used as a heterologous expression system [1]. It is a single-celled microorganism that is easy to manipulate and culture as Escherichia coli [2]. In the meantime, as a eukaryote, it possesses the capabilities of post-translational modifications performed by higher eukaryotic cells. Proteins that express as inactive inclusion bodies in bacterial expression systems can therefore be produced as biologically active molecules in P. pastoris, with correct proteolytic processing, folding, disulfide bond formation and glycosylation.