IMMOBILIZING PROTEINS ON THE SURFACE OF YEAST-CELLS

Yeast has a rigid cell wall comprising an outer layer of glycoproteins and an internal skeletal layer of glucan; heterologous proteins can b e targeted to the glycoprotein layer and become covalently linked to t he glucan skeleton. Yeast is a eukaryote that has 'generally regarded as safe' (GRAS) status, and is easy to cultivate, so it seems ideally suited for applications including the manufacture of recyclable, immob ilized, biocatalysts, whole-cell vaccines, the presentation of peptide or antibody libraries, and the presentation of adhesion or metal-bind ing proteins.