Protein secretion in yeast is a complex, multistep process heavily reliant on signal sequences to guide recombinant proteins through the secretory pathway. Among these, the mating factor alpha (MFα) signal sequence from Saccharomyces cerevisiae has emerged as a powerful tool for enhancing the extracellular production of heterologous proteins. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the MFα signal sequence, tracing its historical development and role in advancing our understanding of protein secretion mechanisms, including co- and post-translational secretory pathways. We highlight key studies focused on optimizing the MFα signal sequence for improved secretion efficiency, leading to the development of several highly effective variants. These optimized sequences have significantly increased recombinant protein yield and quality, with notable implications for both research and industrial applications. Additionally, we explore the challenges of MFα-based secretion, including issues of missorting, incorrect processing, and aggregation in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). We discuss emerging strategies to overcome these bottlenecks, such as fusion with alternative signal sequences and strain engineering. Finally, the review highlights current efforts to develop more robust signal peptides, and underscores the importance of continued innovation in protein secretion systems to meet the growing demand for high-quality recombinant proteins in biotechnological and therapeutic applications. KEY POINTS: • MFα remains the top choice for recombinant protein secretion in yeast • Challenges in secretion: ER aggregation, missorting, and processing errors • Mutated and hybrid signal peptides offer promising solutions.
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Evidence ID | Analyze ID | Gene/Complex | Systematic Name/Complex Accession | Qualifier | Gene Ontology Term ID | Gene Ontology Term | Aspect | Annotation Extension | Evidence | Method | Source | Assigned On | Reference |
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Evidence ID | Analyze ID | Gene | Gene Systematic Name | Phenotype | Experiment Type | Experiment Type Category | Mutant Information | Strain Background | Chemical | Details | Reference |
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Evidence ID | Analyze ID | Gene | Gene Systematic Name | Disease Ontology Term | Disease Ontology Term ID | Qualifier | Evidence | Method | Source | Assigned On | Reference |
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Evidence ID | Analyze ID | Regulator | Regulator Systematic Name | Target | Target Systematic Name | Direction | Regulation of | Happens During | Regulator Type | Direction | Regulation Of | Happens During | Method | Evidence | Strain Background | Reference |
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Site | Modification | Modifier | Source | Reference |
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Evidence ID | Analyze ID | Interactor | Interactor Systematic Name | Interactor | Interactor Systematic Name | Allele | Assay | Annotation | Action | Phenotype | SGA score | P-value | Source | Reference | Note |
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Evidence ID | Analyze ID | Interactor | Interactor Systematic Name | Interactor | Interactor Systematic Name | Assay | Annotation | Action | Modification | Source | Reference | Note |
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Complement ID | Locus ID | Gene | Species | Gene ID | Strain background | Direction | Details | Source | Reference |
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Evidence ID | Analyze ID | Dataset | Description | Keywords | Number of Conditions | Reference |
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Evidence ID | Analyze ID | File | Description |
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