The vector pMAL-c4X is designed to produce maltose-binding protein (MBP) fusions, where the protein of interest can be cleaved from MBP with the specific protease Factor Xa. MBP fusions made with this vector are expressed cytoplasmically. The MBP has been engineered for tighter binding to amylose resin. A gene or open reading frame is inserted into a restriction site of the vector polylinker, in the same translational reading frame as the malE gene (encoding maltose-binding protein). Insertion of the DNA fragment interrupts the malE-lacZα fusion pre-existing on the vector, affording a screen for inserts on the proper indicator plates. The fusion protein thus produced can be purified by amylose affinity chromatography. The sequence coding for the four amino acids Ile-Glu-Gly-Arg is present just upstream of the XmnI site. This allows the protein of interest to be cleaved from maltose-binding protein with the specific protease Factor Xa. Fragments inserted in the XmnI site (cleaves GAAGG↓ATTTC) will produce a fusion protein that, after Factor Xa cleavage, contains no vector-derived residues on the protein of interest.