Avian cell-free translation system based on the cell extract of Gallus gallus embryos

Cell-free translation systems are gaining increasingly widespread use, from both practical and fundamental standpoints. Their applications are diverse but typically revolve around preparative biosynthesis of proteins in cases where expression in living cells is either problematic or unfeasible. They also enable rapid evaluation of the effects produced by external components on the translation process. Existing cell-free systems have been derived from bacterial, yeast, plant, insect, mammalian, and human cells. However, no cell-free systems have been developed from avian cells, despite the ecological and economic significance of birds (in daily life, food production, light industry, agriculture, etc.). Such systems would be powerful biotechnological tools and bring considerable benefits for both poultry farming and fundamental research on the protein synthesis in birds. To address this gap, a cell-free translation system using the extracts from the cells of domestic chicken ( Gallus gallus ) embryos was developed. Following the sample preparation and mRNA selection, the cell-free biosynthesis of firefly luciferase was performed in a chemically supplemented cell extract.