The Effects of the Combined Co-Expression of GroEL/ES and Trigger Factor Chaperones on Orthopoxvirus Phospholipase F13 Production in E. coli

Heterologous protein expression often faces significant challenges, particularly when the target protein has posttranslational modifications, is toxic, or is prone to misfolding. These issues can result in low expression levels, aggregation, or even cell death. Such problems are exemplified by the expression of phospholipase p37, a critical target for chemotherapeutic drugs against pathogenic human orthopoxviruses, including monkeypox and smallpox viruses. The complex structure and broad enzymatic activity of phospholipase p37 render it toxic to host cells, necessitating specialized strategies for heterologous expression. In our study, we addressed these challenges using the vaccinia virus F13 protein as a model. We demonstrated that p37 can be effectively synthesized in <i>E. coli</i> as a GST fusion protein by co-expressing it with the GroEL/ES chaperone system and Trigger Factor chaperone.