Bacterial Inclusion Bodies: A Treasure Trove of Bioactive Proteins

Recombinant proteins expressed as bacterial inclusion bodies (IBs) are now receiving tremendous attention for many diverse applications in the areas of industrial and medical biotechnology. Understanding the structure-function relationship of protein in IBs has recently created new possibilities in developing innovative isolation, solubilization, refolding, and purification processes for high-throughput recovery of bioactive protein from bacterial IBs. This opinion article describes the advantages, disadvantages, and major challenges presently associated with each of the processing steps. Finally, we conclude with the possible solutions for each operational step and the future direction of the basic and translational research to achieve maximum benefit from IB aggregates.