Genetic engineering of streptavidin, a versatile affinity tag

• Published in: Journal of Chromatography B: Biomedical Sciences and Applications Vol. 715; no. 1; pp. 85 - 91
• Main Authors: Sano, Takeshi, Vajda, Sandor, Cantor, Charles R
• Format: Book Review Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 11.09.1998
• Subjects: Affinity Labels; Biotin; Biotin - metabolism; Cloning, Molecular; Fusion proteins; Protein Binding; Recombinant Fusion Proteins - chemistry; Recombinant Fusion Proteins - genetics; Recombinant Fusion Proteins - metabolism; Staphylococcal Protein A - genetics; Streptavidin; Streptavidin - chemistry; Streptavidin - genetics; Streptavidin - metabolism; Genetic engineering; Biotin; Reviews; Fusion proteins; Streptavidin
• ISSN: 0378-4347; 1387-2273
• DOI: 10.1016/S0378-4347(98)00316-8

Streptavidin, a tetrameric protein produced by Streptomyces avidinii, has been used as a useful, versatile affinity tag in a variety of biological applications. The efficacy of streptavidin is derived from its extremely high binding affinity for the vitamin biotin. For the last several years, we have used genetic engineering as a primary means to enhance the properties of streptavidin and to expand the application of streptavidin as an affinity tag. In this review, we describe several genetically engineered streptavidin variants, which include a streptavidin with a reduced biotin-binding affinity, a dimeric streptavidin, and a fusion protein between streptavidin and protein A, along with their potential applications in biological science.