Chitin Chitin Chitin (CHON) ( ), a long-chain polymer of "N"-acetylglucosamine, is a derivative of glucose. It is a primary component of cell walls in fungi, the exoskeletons of arthropods, such as crustaceans (e.g., crabs, lobsters and shrimps) and insects, the radulae of molluscs, cephalopod beaks, and the scales of fish and lissamphibians. The structure of chitin is comparable to another polysaccharide - cellulose, forming crystalline nanofibrils or whiskers. In terms of function, it may be compared to the protein keratin. Chitin has proved useful for several medicinal, industrial and biotechnological purposes. The English word "chitin" comes from the French word
Expression vector as the expression vector in this system. Insect cell lines derived from Lepidopterans (moths and butterflies), such as "Spodoptera frugiperda", are used as host. A cell line derived from the cabbage looper is of particular interest, as it has been developed to grow fast and without the expensive serum normally needed to boost cell growth. The shuttle vector is called bacmid, and gene expression is under the control of a strong promoter pPolh. Baculovirus has also been used with mammalian cell lines in the BacMam system. Baculovirus is normally used for production of glycoproteins, although the glycosylations may be different