Expression, Purification, and Large-Scale Production of the Annexin V Protein

Annexin-V is a cytosolic protein involved in many significant physiological roles including stabilization of the phospholipid membrane, regulation of blood coagulation, and cell apoptosis or programmed cell death. Though the exact mechanism of Annexin-V in the human body is not fully understood, its wide range of applications in the medical field cannot be denied. Annexin-V can be applied in cancer therapy as a diagnostic to detect cell apoptosis and determine the effectiveness of chemotherapeutic drugs. Furthermore, Annexin-V could even be used as drug delivery vehicle in the treatment of cancer. Commercially useful proteins like Annexin-V are in high demand, however, one big obstacle is that yielding a large amount of pure Annexin-V could be a tedious and expensive procedure. Performing research with this protein could also become a huge financial undertaking. This project focuses on studying the optimal conditions by which the Annexin-V protein could be expressed, purified, and mass-produced. The final goal of this project is to both devise a cost-effective procedure of mass-producing Annexin-V and to characterize the final product with appropriate biological assays.