Table 1
Comparison of expression hosts for the production of proteins of pharmacological interest (content partially sourced from Ma et al. 2003; Franconi
et al. 2010; Loh et al. 2017)
Host
Expression
level
Production
time
Production
cost
Scale-up
capacity
Glycosilation pattern
(vs human)
Risk of contamination
Bacteria
Medium/
high
Short
Low/
moderate
High
None
High: endotoxins
Yeast
Low/high
Medium
Medium
High
Incorrect: high
mannosylation
Low
Insect cells
Low/high
Medium
High
Medium
Incorrect: high
mannosylation
High: baculoviruses and mammalian
viruses
Mammalian cells
Low/
medium
High
High
Very low
Correct
High: mammalian viruses, prions,
oncogenic DNA
Animal
Medium/
high
Very high
High
Low
Correct
High: mammalian pathogens, prions,
oncogenic DNA
Plant cell cultures
Medium/
high
Short
Lowmoderate
High
Minor differences,
possibility to modify
Very low
Plant organs (e.g. hairy
roots)
Medium/
high
Medium/
short
Lowmoderate
High
Minor differences,
possibility to modify
Very low
Whole-plant transient
(agro-infiltration)
Medium/
high
Medium
Low
High
Minor differences,
possibility to modify
Very low
Whole-plant stable
(nuclear/plastidial)
Medium/
high
Long
Low
High
Minor differences,
possibility to modify
Very low
68
S. Massa et al.