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
Insect cell culture Insect cell culture The use of insect cell lines as production hosts is an emerging technology for the production of bio pharmaceuticals. There are currently more than 100 insect cell lines available for recombinant protein production with lines derived from "Bombyx mori", "Mamestra brassicae", "Spodoptera frugiperda", "Trichoplusia ni", and "Drosophila melanogaster" being of particular interest. Insects cell lines are commonly used in place of prokaryotic ones because post-translational modifications of proteins are possible in insect cells whereas this mechanism is not present in prokaryotic systems. The Sf9 cell line is one of the most commonly used lines in insect cell