Patent 7517671 was granted and assigned to NEW ENGLAND BIOLABS, INC. on April, 2009 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Methods and compositions are described that relate to obtaining concentrated preparations of secreted recombinant proteins. These proteins are expressed in the form of fusion proteins with a chitin-binding domain (CBD). The fusion proteins are capable of being concentrated in the presence of chitin. Also described is: a shuttle vector that includes a modified LAC4 promoter; a chitinase-negative host cell; a CBD capable of eluting from chitin under non-denaturing conditions; and sterilized chitin, which can be optionally magnetized for facilitating recovery of recombinant protein.