The PA28 complexes (also termed REG or 11S complexes) are described as activators of the 20S proteasome, a major intracellular protease in eukaryotic cells. They bind to the ends of the barrel-shaped 20S proteasome, and activate its peptidase activities. The interferon gamma inducible PA28 alpha beta, made of the two related subunits PA28 alpha and beta, is under sustained investigation as it plays important roles in the production by the proteasome of class I antigen peptides. However, in vitro studies of this complex have been impaired by the difficulty of producing large amount of this protein, mainly due to the poor solubility of its beta subunit when expressed in Escherichia coli. Here we describe the construction of a bicistronic vector, allowing simultaneous production of functional human PA28 alpha and beta subunits in E. coli. Co-expression of the two proteins allows efficient formation of active PA28 alpha beta complexes, that remain soluble and can be easily purified by regular chromatographic procedures. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.