A method for optimising a nucleotide sequence for protein expression in a host cell, comprising the steps of: (a) constructing an expression library comprising a large number of variants of the sequence to be expressed operatively cloned in an expression vector, wherein (i) the sequence of the 6 nucleotides immediately upstream (5′-direction) of the first codon of the coding sequence to be expressed is completely or partially randomized; (ii) the sequence of the second and third codons of the coding sequence to be expressed is randomized, wherein the randomization of the second and third codons is limited to changes not altering the amino-acids encoded by said codons; (b) screening the library with regard to efficiency of protein expression in the host cell; and (c) selecting a sequence resulting in a desired level of efficiency of protein expression.