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Beritza K, Watts EC, van der Hoorn RAL. Improving transient protein expression in agroinfiltrated Nicotiana benthamiana. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2024; 243:846-850. [PMID: 38849321 DOI: 10.1111/nph.19894] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2024] [Accepted: 05/02/2024] [Indexed: 06/09/2024]
Abstract
Agroinfiltration of Nicotiana benthamiana is routinely used in plant science and molecular pharming to transiently express proteins of interest. Here, we discuss four phenomena that should be avoided to improve transient expression. Immune responses can be avoided by depleting immune receptors and employing pathogen-derived effectors; transcript degradation by using silencing inhibitors or RNA interference machinery mutants; endoplasmic reticulum stress by co-expressing chaperones; and protein degradation can be avoided with subcellular targeting, protease mutants and co-expressing protease inhibitors. We summarise the reported increased yields for various recombinant proteins achieved with these approaches and highlight remaining challenges to further improve the efficiency of this versatile protein expression platform.
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Affiliation(s)
- Konstantina Beritza
- The Plant Chemetics Laboratory, Department of Biology, University of Oxford, OX1 3RB, Oxford, UK
| | - Emma C Watts
- The Plant Chemetics Laboratory, Department of Biology, University of Oxford, OX1 3RB, Oxford, UK
| | - Renier A L van der Hoorn
- The Plant Chemetics Laboratory, Department of Biology, University of Oxford, OX1 3RB, Oxford, UK
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2
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Chaudhary S, Ali Z, Mahfouz M. Molecular farming for sustainable production of clinical-grade antimicrobial peptides. PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY JOURNAL 2024; 22:2282-2300. [PMID: 38685599 PMCID: PMC11258990 DOI: 10.1111/pbi.14344] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2023] [Revised: 02/26/2024] [Accepted: 03/11/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024]
Abstract
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are emerging as next-generation therapeutics due to their broad-spectrum activity against drug-resistant bacterial strains and their ability to eradicate biofilms, modulate immune responses, exert anti-inflammatory effects and improve disease management. They are produced through solid-phase peptide synthesis or in bacterial or yeast cells. Molecular farming, i.e. the production of biologics in plants, offers a low-cost, non-toxic, scalable and simple alternative platform to produce AMPs at a sustainable cost. In this review, we discuss the advantages of molecular farming for producing clinical-grade AMPs, advances in expression and purification systems and the cost advantage for industrial-scale production. We further review how 'green' production is filling the sustainability gap, streamlining patent and regulatory approvals and enabling successful clinical translations that demonstrate the future potential of AMPs produced by molecular farming. Finally, we discuss the regulatory challenges that need to be addressed to fully realize the potential of molecular farming-based AMP production for therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shahid Chaudhary
- Laboratory for Genome Engineering and Synthetic Biology, Division of Biological Sciences4700 King Abdullah University of Science and TechnologyThuwalSaudi Arabia
| | - Zahir Ali
- Laboratory for Genome Engineering and Synthetic Biology, Division of Biological Sciences4700 King Abdullah University of Science and TechnologyThuwalSaudi Arabia
| | - Magdy Mahfouz
- Laboratory for Genome Engineering and Synthetic Biology, Division of Biological Sciences4700 King Abdullah University of Science and TechnologyThuwalSaudi Arabia
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3
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Merwaiss F, Lozano‐Sanchez E, Zulaica J, Rusu L, Vazquez‐Vilar M, Orzáez D, Rodrigo G, Geller R, Daròs J. Plant virus-derived nanoparticles decorated with genetically encoded SARS-CoV-2 nanobodies display enhanced neutralizing activity. PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY JOURNAL 2024; 22:876-891. [PMID: 37966715 PMCID: PMC10955499 DOI: 10.1111/pbi.14230] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2023] [Revised: 10/25/2023] [Accepted: 10/30/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023]
Abstract
Viral nanoparticles (VNPs) are a new class of virus-based formulations that can be used as building blocks to implement a variety of functions of potential interest in biotechnology and nanomedicine. Viral coat proteins (CP) that exhibit self-assembly properties are particularly appropriate for displaying antigens and antibodies, by generating multivalent VNPs with therapeutic and diagnostic potential. Here, we developed genetically encoded multivalent VNPs derived from two filamentous plant viruses, potato virus X (PVX) and tobacco etch virus (TEV), which were efficiently and inexpensively produced in the biofactory Nicotiana benthamiana plant. PVX and TEV-derived VNPs were decorated with two different nanobodies recognizing two different regions of the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein. The addition of different picornavirus 2A ribosomal skipping peptides between the nanobody and the CP allowed for modulating the degree of VNP decoration. Nanobody-decorated VNPs purified from N. benthamiana tissues successfully recognized the RBD antigen in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and showed efficient neutralization activity against pseudoviruses carrying the Spike protein. Interestingly, multivalent PVX and TEV-derived VNPs exhibited a neutralizing activity approximately one order of magnitude higher than the corresponding nanobody in a dimeric format. These properties, combined with the ability to produce VNP cocktails in the same N. benthamiana plant based on synergistic infection of the parent PVX and TEV, make these green nanomaterials an attractive alternative to standard antibodies for multiple applications in diagnosis and therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fernando Merwaiss
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de PlantasConsejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas – Universitat Politècnica de ValènciaValenciaSpain
| | - Enrique Lozano‐Sanchez
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de PlantasConsejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas – Universitat Politècnica de ValènciaValenciaSpain
| | - João Zulaica
- Institute for Integrative Systems BiologyConsejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas – Universitat de ValènciaPaternaSpain
| | - Luciana Rusu
- Institute for Integrative Systems BiologyConsejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas – Universitat de ValènciaPaternaSpain
| | - Marta Vazquez‐Vilar
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de PlantasConsejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas – Universitat Politècnica de ValènciaValenciaSpain
| | - Diego Orzáez
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de PlantasConsejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas – Universitat Politècnica de ValènciaValenciaSpain
| | - Guillermo Rodrigo
- Institute for Integrative Systems BiologyConsejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas – Universitat de ValènciaPaternaSpain
| | - Ron Geller
- Institute for Integrative Systems BiologyConsejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas – Universitat de ValènciaPaternaSpain
| | - José‐Antonio Daròs
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de PlantasConsejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas – Universitat Politècnica de ValènciaValenciaSpain
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4
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Pena ES, Batty CJ, Hendy DA, Yang S, Ontiveros-Padilla L, Stiepel RT, Ting JPY, Ainslie KM, Bachelder EM. Comparative study of acetalated-dextran microparticle fabrication methods for a clinically translatable subunit-based influenza vaccine. Int J Pharm 2024; 652:123836. [PMID: 38266940 PMCID: PMC10923012 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2024.123836] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2023] [Revised: 01/15/2024] [Accepted: 01/20/2024] [Indexed: 01/26/2024]
Abstract
The most common influenza vaccines are inactivated viruses produced in chicken eggs, which is a time-consuming production method with variable efficacy due to mismatches of the vaccine strains to the dominant circulating strains. Subunit-based vaccines provide faster production times in comparison to the traditional egg-produced vaccines but often require the use of an adjuvant to elicit a highly protective immune response. However, the current FDA approved adjuvant for influenza vaccines (MF59) elicits a primarily helper T-cell type 2 (Th2)-biased humoral immune response. Adjuvants that can stimulate a Th1 cellular response are correlated to have more robust protection against influenza. The cyclic dinucleotide cGAMP has been shown to provide a potent Th1 response but requires the use of a delivery vehicle to best initiate its signalling pathway in the cytosol. Herein, acetalated dextran (Ace-DEX) was used as the polymer to fabricate microparticles (MPs) via double-emulsion, electrospray, and spray drying methods to encapsulate cGAMP. This study compared each fabrication method's ability to encapsulate and retain the hydrophilic adjuvant cGAMP. We compared their therapeutic efficacy to Addavax, an MF59-like adjuvant, and cGAMP Ace-DEX MPs provided a stronger Th1 response in vaccinated BALB/c mice. Furthermore, we compared Ace-DEX MPs to spray dried MPs composed from a commonly used polymer for drug delivery, poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA). We observed that all Ace-DEX MPs elicited similar humoral and cellular responses to the PLGA MPs. Overall, the results shown here indicate Ace-DEX can perform similarly to PLGA as a polymer for drug delivery and that spray drying can provide an efficient way to produce MPs to encapsulate cGAMP and stimulate the immune system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erik S Pena
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, North Carolina State University and University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Cole J Batty
- Division of Pharmacoengineering & Molecular Pharmaceutics, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Dylan A Hendy
- Division of Pharmacoengineering & Molecular Pharmaceutics, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Shuangshuang Yang
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Department of Genetics, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Luis Ontiveros-Padilla
- Division of Pharmacoengineering & Molecular Pharmaceutics, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Rebeca T Stiepel
- Division of Pharmacoengineering & Molecular Pharmaceutics, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Jenny P-Y Ting
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Department of Genetics, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Kristy M Ainslie
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, North Carolina State University and University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Division of Pharmacoengineering & Molecular Pharmaceutics, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
| | - Eric M Bachelder
- Division of Pharmacoengineering & Molecular Pharmaceutics, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
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Sun L, Kallolimath S, Palt R, Eminger F, Strasser R, Steinkellner H. Codon optimization regulates IgG3 and IgM expression and glycosylation in N. benthamiana. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2023; 11:1320586. [PMID: 38125307 PMCID: PMC10731585 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2023.1320586] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2023] [Accepted: 11/27/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Plants are being increasingly recognized for the production of complex human proteins, including monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). Various methods have been applied to boost recombinant expression, with DNA codon usage being an important approach. Here, we transiently expressed three complex human mAbs in Nicotiana benthamiana, namely one IgG3 and two IgM directed against SARS-CoV-2 as codon optimized(CO) and non-codon optimized (NCO) variants. qRT-PCR exhibited significantly increased mRNA levels of all CO variants compared to the non-codon optimized orthologues, in line with increased protein expression. Purified CO and NCO mAbs did not exhibit obvious biochemical differences, as determined by SDS-PAGE and antigen binding activities. By contrast, enhanced production selectively impacts on glycosite occupancy and N-glycan processing, with increased mannosidic structures. The results point to a careful monitoring of recombinant proteins upon enhancing expression. Especially if it comes to therapeutic application even subtle modifications might alter product efficacy or increase immunogenicity.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Herta Steinkellner
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
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6
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Bull T, Khakhar A. Design principles for synthetic control systems to engineer plants. PLANT CELL REPORTS 2023; 42:1875-1889. [PMID: 37789180 DOI: 10.1007/s00299-023-03072-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2023] [Accepted: 09/10/2023] [Indexed: 10/05/2023]
Abstract
KEY MESSAGE Synthetic control systems have led to significant advancement in the study and engineering of unicellular organisms, but it has been challenging to apply these tools to multicellular organisms like plants. The ability to predictably engineer plants will enable the development of novel traits capable of alleviating global problems, such as climate change and food insecurity. Engineering predictable multicellular phenotypes will require the development of synthetic control systems that can precisely regulate how the information encoded in genomes is translated into phenotypes. Many efficient control systems have been developed for unicellular organisms. However, it remains challenging to use such tools to study or engineer multicellular organisms. Plants are a good chassis within which to develop strategies to overcome these challenges, thanks to their capacity to withstand large-scale reprogramming without lethality. Additionally, engineered plants have great potential for solving major societal problems. Here we briefly review the progress of control system development in unicellular organisms, and how that information can be leveraged to characterize control systems in plants. Further, we discuss strategies for developing control systems designed to regulate the expression of transgenes or endogenous loci and generate dosage-dependent or discrete traits. Finally, we discuss the utility that mathematical models of biological processes have for control system deployment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tawni Bull
- Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - Arjun Khakhar
- Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
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7
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Parthiban S, Vijeesh T, Gayathri T, Shanmugaraj B, Sharma A, Sathishkumar R. Artificial intelligence-driven systems engineering for next-generation plant-derived biopharmaceuticals. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2023; 14:1252166. [PMID: 38034587 PMCID: PMC10684705 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1252166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2023] [Accepted: 10/17/2023] [Indexed: 12/02/2023]
Abstract
Recombinant biopharmaceuticals including antigens, antibodies, hormones, cytokines, single-chain variable fragments, and peptides have been used as vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics. Plant molecular pharming is a robust platform that uses plants as an expression system to produce simple and complex recombinant biopharmaceuticals on a large scale. Plant system has several advantages over other host systems such as humanized expression, glycosylation, scalability, reduced risk of human or animal pathogenic contaminants, rapid and cost-effective production. Despite many advantages, the expression of recombinant proteins in plant system is hindered by some factors such as non-human post-translational modifications, protein misfolding, conformation changes and instability. Artificial intelligence (AI) plays a vital role in various fields of biotechnology and in the aspect of plant molecular pharming, a significant increase in yield and stability can be achieved with the intervention of AI-based multi-approach to overcome the hindrance factors. Current limitations of plant-based recombinant biopharmaceutical production can be circumvented with the aid of synthetic biology tools and AI algorithms in plant-based glycan engineering for protein folding, stability, viability, catalytic activity and organelle targeting. The AI models, including but not limited to, neural network, support vector machines, linear regression, Gaussian process and regressor ensemble, work by predicting the training and experimental data sets to design and validate the protein structures thereby optimizing properties such as thermostability, catalytic activity, antibody affinity, and protein folding. This review focuses on, integrating systems engineering approaches and AI-based machine learning and deep learning algorithms in protein engineering and host engineering to augment protein production in plant systems to meet the ever-expanding therapeutics market.
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Affiliation(s)
- Subramanian Parthiban
- Plant Genetic Engineering Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, India
| | - Thandarvalli Vijeesh
- Plant Genetic Engineering Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, India
| | - Thashanamoorthi Gayathri
- Plant Genetic Engineering Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, India
| | - Balamurugan Shanmugaraj
- Plant Genetic Engineering Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, India
| | - Ashutosh Sharma
- Tecnologico de Monterrey, School of Engineering and Sciences, Centre of Bioengineering, Queretaro, Mexico
| | - Ramalingam Sathishkumar
- Plant Genetic Engineering Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, India
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8
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Strasser R. Plant glycoengineering for designing next-generation vaccines and therapeutic proteins. Biotechnol Adv 2023; 67:108197. [PMID: 37315875 DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2023.108197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2023] [Revised: 06/05/2023] [Accepted: 06/06/2023] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Protein glycosylation has a huge impact on biological processes in all domains of life. The type of glycan present on a recombinant glycoprotein depends on protein intrinsic features and the glycosylation repertoire of the cell type used for expression. Glycoengineering approaches are used to eliminate unwanted glycan modifications and to facilitate the coordinated expression of glycosylation enzymes or whole metabolic pathways to furnish glycans with distinct modifications. The formation of tailored glycans enables structure-function studies and optimization of therapeutic proteins used in different applications. While recombinant proteins or proteins from natural sources can be in vitro glycoengineered using glycosyltransferases or chemoenzymatic synthesis, many approaches use genetic engineering involving the elimination of endogenous genes and introduction of heterologous genes to cell-based production systems. Plant glycoengineering enables the in planta production of recombinant glycoproteins with human or animal-type glycans that resemble natural glycosylation or contain novel glycan structures. This review summarizes key achievements in glycoengineering of plants and highlights current developments aiming to make plants more suitable for the production of a diverse range of recombinant glycoproteins for innovative therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard Strasser
- Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria.
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9
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Liu Y, Wang Q, Liu X, Cheng J, Zhang L, Chu H, Wang R, Li H, Chang H, Ahmed N, Wang Z, Liao X, Jiang H. pUGTdb: A comprehensive database of plant UDP-dependent glycosyltransferases. MOLECULAR PLANT 2023; 16:643-646. [PMID: 36609142 DOI: 10.1016/j.molp.2023.01.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2022] [Revised: 12/08/2022] [Accepted: 01/02/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Yuqian Liu
- Key Laboratory of Engineering Biology for Low-carbon Manufacturing, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin 300308, China; National Center of Technology Innovation for Synthetic Biology, Tianjin 300308, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
| | - Qian Wang
- Key Laboratory of Engineering Biology for Low-carbon Manufacturing, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin 300308, China; National Center of Technology Innovation for Synthetic Biology, Tianjin 300308, China
| | - Xiaonan Liu
- Key Laboratory of Engineering Biology for Low-carbon Manufacturing, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin 300308, China; National Center of Technology Innovation for Synthetic Biology, Tianjin 300308, China
| | - Jian Cheng
- Key Laboratory of Engineering Biology for Low-carbon Manufacturing, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin 300308, China; National Center of Technology Innovation for Synthetic Biology, Tianjin 300308, China.
| | - Lei Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Engineering Biology for Low-carbon Manufacturing, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin 300308, China; National Center of Technology Innovation for Synthetic Biology, Tianjin 300308, China; Academy of Life Science, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan 430040, China
| | - Huanyu Chu
- Key Laboratory of Engineering Biology for Low-carbon Manufacturing, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin 300308, China; National Center of Technology Innovation for Synthetic Biology, Tianjin 300308, China
| | - Ruoyu Wang
- Key Laboratory of Engineering Biology for Low-carbon Manufacturing, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin 300308, China; National Center of Technology Innovation for Synthetic Biology, Tianjin 300308, China
| | - Haoran Li
- Key Laboratory of Engineering Biology for Low-carbon Manufacturing, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin 300308, China; National Center of Technology Innovation for Synthetic Biology, Tianjin 300308, China
| | - Hong Chang
- Key Laboratory of Engineering Biology for Low-carbon Manufacturing, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin 300308, China; National Center of Technology Innovation for Synthetic Biology, Tianjin 300308, China
| | - Nida Ahmed
- Key Laboratory of Engineering Biology for Low-carbon Manufacturing, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin 300308, China; National Center of Technology Innovation for Synthetic Biology, Tianjin 300308, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | | | - Xiaoping Liao
- Key Laboratory of Engineering Biology for Low-carbon Manufacturing, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin 300308, China; National Center of Technology Innovation for Synthetic Biology, Tianjin 300308, China.
| | - Huifeng Jiang
- Key Laboratory of Engineering Biology for Low-carbon Manufacturing, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin 300308, China; National Center of Technology Innovation for Synthetic Biology, Tianjin 300308, China.
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10
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Margolin E, Schäfer G, Allen JD, Gers S, Woodward J, Sutherland AD, Blumenthal M, Meyers A, Shaw ML, Preiser W, Strasser R, Crispin M, Williamson AL, Rybicki EP, Chapman R. A plant-produced SARS-CoV-2 spike protein elicits heterologous immunity in hamsters. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2023; 14:1146234. [PMID: 36959936 PMCID: PMC10028082 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1146234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2023] [Accepted: 02/17/2023] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Molecular farming of vaccines has been heralded as a cheap, safe and scalable production platform. In reality, however, differences in the plant biosynthetic machinery, compared to mammalian cells, can complicate the production of viral glycoproteins. Remodelling the secretory pathway presents an opportunity to support key post-translational modifications, and to tailor aspects of glycosylation and glycosylation-directed folding. In this study, we applied an integrated host and glyco-engineering approach, NXS/T Generation™, to produce a SARS-CoV-2 prefusion spike trimer in Nicotiana benthamiana as a model antigen from an emerging virus. The size exclusion-purified protein exhibited a characteristic prefusion structure when viewed by transmission electron microscopy, and this was indistinguishable from the equivalent mammalian cell-produced antigen. The plant-produced protein was decorated with under-processed oligomannose N-glycans and exhibited a site occupancy that was comparable to the equivalent protein produced in mammalian cell culture. Complex-type glycans were almost entirely absent from the plant-derived material, which contrasted against the predominantly mature, complex glycans that were observed on the mammalian cell culture-derived protein. The plant-derived antigen elicited neutralizing antibodies against both the matched Wuhan and heterologous Delta SARS-CoV-2 variants in immunized hamsters, although titres were lower than those induced by the comparator mammalian antigen. Animals vaccinated with the plant-derived antigen exhibited reduced viral loads following challenge, as well as significant protection from SARS-CoV-2 disease as evidenced by reduced lung pathology, lower viral loads and protection from weight loss. Nonetheless, animals immunized with the mammalian cell-culture-derived protein were better protected in this challenge model suggesting that more faithfully reproducing the native glycoprotein structure and associated glycosylation of the antigen may be desirable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emmanuel Margolin
- Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Africa, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Biopharming Research Unit, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Georgia Schäfer
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Africa, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Observatory, Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Joel D Allen
- School of Biological Sciences and Institute of Life Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom
| | | | - Jeremy Woodward
- Electron Microscope Unit, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Andrew D Sutherland
- Division of Medical Virology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University Tygerberg Campus, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Melissa Blumenthal
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Observatory, Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Ann Meyers
- Biopharming Research Unit, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Megan L Shaw
- Department of Medical Biosciences, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Wolfgang Preiser
- Division of Medical Virology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University Tygerberg Campus, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Richard Strasser
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Max Crispin
- School of Biological Sciences and Institute of Life Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom
| | - Anna-Lise Williamson
- Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Edward P Rybicki
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Biopharming Research Unit, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Ros Chapman
- Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
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11
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VanderBurgt JT, Harper O, Garnham CP, Kohalmi SE, Menassa R. Plant production of a virus-like particle-based vaccine candidate against porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2023; 14:1044675. [PMID: 36760639 PMCID: PMC9902946 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1044675] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2022] [Accepted: 01/10/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is a disease leading to spontaneous abortions and stillbirths in sows and lowered life quality and expectancy in growing pigs. PRRS is prevalent worldwide and has significant economic impacts to swine industries around the globe. Co-expression of the two most abundant proteins in the viral envelope, the matrix protein (M) and glycosylated protein 5 (GP5), can produce a neutralizing immune response for the virus providing a potentially effective subunit vaccine against the disease, but these proteins are difficult to express. The goal of this research was to display antigenic portions of the M and GP5 proteins on the surface of tobacco mosaic virus-like particles. A modified tobacco mosaic virus coat protein (TMVc) was transiently expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves and targeted to three subcellular compartments along the secretory pathway to introduce glycosylation patterns important for M-GP5 epitope immunogenicity. We found that accumulation levels in the apoplast were similar to the ER and the vacuole. Because glycans present on plant apoplastic proteins are closest to those present on PRRSV proteins, a TMVc-M-GP5 fusion construct was targeted to the apoplast and accumulated at over 0.5 mg/g of plant fresh weight. TMVc virus-like particles self-assembled in plant cells and surface-displayed the M-GP5 epitope, as visualized by transmission electron microscopy and immunogold localization. These promising findings lay the foundation for immunogenicity and protective-immunity studies in animals to examine the efficacy of this vaccine candidate as a measure to control PRRS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordan T. VanderBurgt
- Biology Department, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
- London Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, London, ON, Canada
| | - Ondre Harper
- London Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, London, ON, Canada
- Biochemistry Department, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
| | - Christopher P. Garnham
- London Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, London, ON, Canada
- Biochemistry Department, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
| | | | - Rima Menassa
- Biology Department, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
- London Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, London, ON, Canada
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12
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de Pinho Favaro MT, Atienza-Garriga J, Martínez-Torró C, Parladé E, Vázquez E, Corchero JL, Ferrer-Miralles N, Villaverde A. Recombinant vaccines in 2022: a perspective from the cell factory. Microb Cell Fact 2022; 21:203. [PMID: 36199085 PMCID: PMC9532831 DOI: 10.1186/s12934-022-01929-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2022] [Accepted: 08/30/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
The last big outbreaks of Ebola fever in Africa, the thousands of avian influenza outbreaks across Europe, Asia, North America and Africa, the emergence of monkeypox virus in Europe and specially the COVID-19 pandemics have globally stressed the need for efficient, cost-effective vaccines against infectious diseases. Ideally, they should be based on transversal technologies of wide applicability. In this context, and pushed by the above-mentioned epidemiological needs, new and highly sophisticated DNA-or RNA-based vaccination strategies have been recently developed and applied at large-scale. Being very promising and effective, they still need to be assessed regarding the level of conferred long-term protection. Despite these fast-developing approaches, subunit vaccines, based on recombinant proteins obtained by conventional genetic engineering, still show a wide spectrum of interesting potentialities and an important margin for further development. In the 80’s, the first vaccination attempts with recombinant vaccines consisted in single structural proteins from viral pathogens, administered as soluble plain versions. In contrast, more complex formulations of recombinant antigens with particular geometries are progressively generated and explored in an attempt to mimic the multifaceted set of stimuli offered to the immune system by replicating pathogens. The diversity of recombinant antimicrobial vaccines and vaccine prototypes is revised here considering the cell factory types, through relevant examples of prototypes under development as well as already approved products.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marianna Teixeira de Pinho Favaro
- Institut de Biotecnologia i de Biomedicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallés, 08193, Barcelona, Spain.,Laboratory of Vaccine Development, Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Jan Atienza-Garriga
- Institut de Biotecnologia i de Biomedicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallés, 08193, Barcelona, Spain.,Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Cerdanyola del Vallès, 08193, Barcelona, Spain.,Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallés, 08193, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Carlos Martínez-Torró
- Institut de Biotecnologia i de Biomedicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallés, 08193, Barcelona, Spain.,Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Cerdanyola del Vallès, 08193, Barcelona, Spain.,Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallés, 08193, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Eloi Parladé
- Institut de Biotecnologia i de Biomedicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallés, 08193, Barcelona, Spain.,Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Cerdanyola del Vallès, 08193, Barcelona, Spain.,Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallés, 08193, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Esther Vázquez
- Institut de Biotecnologia i de Biomedicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallés, 08193, Barcelona, Spain. .,Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Cerdanyola del Vallès, 08193, Barcelona, Spain. .,Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallés, 08193, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - José Luis Corchero
- Institut de Biotecnologia i de Biomedicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallés, 08193, Barcelona, Spain. .,Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Cerdanyola del Vallès, 08193, Barcelona, Spain. .,Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallés, 08193, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Neus Ferrer-Miralles
- Institut de Biotecnologia i de Biomedicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallés, 08193, Barcelona, Spain. .,Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Cerdanyola del Vallès, 08193, Barcelona, Spain. .,Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallés, 08193, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Antonio Villaverde
- Institut de Biotecnologia i de Biomedicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallés, 08193, Barcelona, Spain. .,Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Cerdanyola del Vallès, 08193, Barcelona, Spain. .,Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallés, 08193, Barcelona, Spain.
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13
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Díaz-Galián MV, Vega-Rodríguez MA. Many-objective approach based on problem-aware mutation operators for protein encoding. Inf Sci (N Y) 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ins.2022.09.048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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14
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Margolin E, Allen JD, Verbeek M, Chapman R, Meyers A, van Diepen M, Ximba P, Motlou T, Moore PL, Woodward J, Strasser R, Crispin M, Williamson AL, Rybicki EP. Augmenting glycosylation-directed folding pathways enhances the fidelity of HIV Env immunogen production in plants. Biotechnol Bioeng 2022; 119:2919-2937. [PMID: 35781691 PMCID: PMC9544252 DOI: 10.1002/bit.28169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2022] [Revised: 06/23/2022] [Accepted: 06/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Heterologous glycoprotein production relies on host glycosylation-dependent folding. When the biosynthetic machinery differs from the usual expression host, there is scope to remodel the assembly pathway to enhance glycoprotein production. Here we explore the integration of chaperone coexpression with glyco-engineering to improve the production of a model HIV-1 envelope antigen. Calreticulin was coexpressed to support protein folding together with Leishmania major STT3D oligosaccharyltransferase, to improve glycan occupancy, RNA interference to suppress the formation of truncated glycans, and Nicotiana benthamiana plants lacking α1,3-fucosyltransferase and β1,2-xylosyltransferase was used as an expression host to prevent plant-specific complex N-glycans forming. This approach reduced the formation of undesired aggregates, which predominated in the absence of glyco-engineering. The resulting antigen also exhibited increased glycan occupancy, albeit to a slightly lower level than the equivalent mammalian cell-produced protein. The antigen was decorated almost exclusively with oligomannose glycans, which were less processed compared with the mammalian protein. Immunized rabbits developed comparable immune responses to the plant-produced and mammalian cell-derived antigens, including the induction of autologous neutralizing antibodies when the proteins were used to boost DNA and modified vaccinia Ankara virus-vectored vaccines. This study demonstrates that engineering glycosylation-directed folding offers a promising route to enhance the production of complex viral glycoproteins in plants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emmanuel Margolin
- Department of Pathology, Division of Medical Virology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Africa, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Biopharming Research Unit, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Joel D Allen
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - Matthew Verbeek
- Biopharming Research Unit, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Ros Chapman
- Department of Pathology, Division of Medical Virology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Ann Meyers
- Biopharming Research Unit, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Michiel van Diepen
- Department of Pathology, Division of Medical Virology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Phindile Ximba
- Department of Pathology, Division of Medical Virology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Thopisang Motlou
- National Institute for Communicable Diseases of the National Health Laboratory Service, Centre for HIV and STIs, Johannesburg, South Africa
- MRC Antibody Immunity Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Penny L Moore
- National Institute for Communicable Diseases of the National Health Laboratory Service, Centre for HIV and STIs, Johannesburg, South Africa
- MRC Antibody Immunity Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA), University of KwaZulu-Natal, Congella, Durban, South Africa
| | - Jeremy Woodward
- Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Richard Strasser
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Max Crispin
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - Anna-Lise Williamson
- Department of Pathology, Division of Medical Virology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Africa, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Edward P Rybicki
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Biopharming Research Unit, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
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15
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Ruocco V, Strasser R. Transient Expression of Glycosylated SARS-CoV-2 Antigens in Nicotiana benthamiana. PLANTS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 11:1093. [PMID: 35448821 PMCID: PMC9033091 DOI: 10.3390/plants11081093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2022] [Revised: 04/12/2022] [Accepted: 04/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
The current COVID-19 pandemic very dramatically shows that the world lacks preparedness for novel viral diseases. In addition to newly emerging viruses, many known pathogenic viruses such as influenza are constantly evolving, leading to frequent outbreaks with severe diseases and deaths. Hence, infectious viruses are a recurrent burden to our daily life, and powerful strategies to stop the spread of human pathogens and disease progression are of utmost importance. Transient plant-based protein expression is a technology that allows fast and highly flexible manufacturing of recombinant viral proteins and, thus, can contribute to infectious disease detection and prevention. This review highlights recent progress in the transient production of viral glycoproteins in N. benthamiana with a focus on SARS-CoV-2-derived viral antigens.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Richard Strasser
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Muthgasse 18, A-1190 Vienna, Austria;
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16
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Houhou F, Martí M, Cordero T, Aragonés V, Sáez C, Cebolla-Cornejo J, de Castro AP, Rodríguez-Concepción M, Picó B, Daròs JA. Carotenoid fortification of zucchini fruits using a viral RNA vector. Biotechnol J 2022; 17:e2100328. [PMID: 35157358 DOI: 10.1002/biot.202100328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2021] [Revised: 01/31/2022] [Accepted: 02/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Carotenoids are health-promoting metabolites in livestock and human diets. Some important crops have been genetically modified to increase their content. Although the usefulness of transgenic plants to alleviate nutritional deficiencies is obvious, their social acceptance has been controversial. RESULTS Here, we demonstrate an alternative biotechnological strategy for carotenoid fortification of edible fruits in which no transgenic DNA is involved. A viral RNA vector derived from Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV) was modified to express a bacterial phytoene synthase (crtB), and inoculated to zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.) leaves nurturing pollinated flowers. After the viral vector moved to the developing fruit and expressed crtB, the rind and flesh of the fruits developed yellow-orange rather than green color. Metabolite analyses showed a substantial enrichment in health-promoting carotenoids, such as α- and β-carotene (provitamin A), lutein and phytoene, in both rind and flesh. CONCLUSION Although this strategy is perhaps not free from controversy due to the use of genetically modified viral RNA, our work does demonstrate the possibility of metabolically fortifying edible fruits using an approach in which no transgenes are involved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fakhreddine Houhou
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas - Universitat Politècnica de València), Valencia, 46022, Spain
| | - Maricarmen Martí
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas - Universitat Politècnica de València), Valencia, 46022, Spain
| | - Teresa Cordero
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas - Universitat Politècnica de València), Valencia, 46022, Spain
| | - Verónica Aragonés
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas - Universitat Politècnica de València), Valencia, 46022, Spain
| | - Cristina Sáez
- Instituto de Conservación y Mejora de la Agrodiversidad Valenciana, Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, 46022, Spain
| | - Jaime Cebolla-Cornejo
- Instituto de Conservación y Mejora de la Agrodiversidad Valenciana, Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, 46022, Spain
| | - Ana Pérez de Castro
- Instituto de Conservación y Mejora de la Agrodiversidad Valenciana, Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, 46022, Spain
| | - Manuel Rodríguez-Concepción
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas - Universitat Politècnica de València), Valencia, 46022, Spain
| | - Belén Picó
- Instituto de Conservación y Mejora de la Agrodiversidad Valenciana, Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, 46022, Spain
| | - José-Antonio Daròs
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas - Universitat Politècnica de València), Valencia, 46022, Spain
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17
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König-Beihammer J, Vavra U, Shin YJ, Veit C, Grünwald-Gruber C, Gillitschka Y, Huber J, Hofner M, Vierlinger K, Mitteregger D, Weinhäusel A, Strasser R. In Planta Production of the Receptor-Binding Domain From SARS-CoV-2 With Human Blood Group A Glycan Structures. Front Chem 2022; 9:816544. [PMID: 35178379 PMCID: PMC8846405 DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2021.816544] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2021] [Accepted: 12/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Glycosylation of viral envelope proteins is important for infectivity and immune evasion. The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein is heavily glycosylated and host-derived glycan modifications contribute to the formation of specific immunogenic epitopes, enhance the virus-cell interaction or affect virus transmission. On recombinant viral antigens used as subunit vaccines or for serological assays, distinct glycan structures may enhance the immunogenicity and are recognized by naturally occurring antibodies in human sera. Here, we performed an in vivo glycoengineering approach to produce recombinant variants of the SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD) with blood group antigens in Nicotiana benthamiana plants. SARS-CoV-2 RBD and human glycosyltransferases for the blood group ABH antigen formation were transiently co-expressed in N. benthamiana leaves. Recombinant RBD was purified and the formation of complex N-glycans carrying blood group A antigens was shown by immunoblotting and MS analysis. Binding to the cellular ACE2 receptor and the conformation-dependent CR3022 antibody showed that the RBD glycosylation variants carrying blood group antigens were functional. Analysis of sera from RBD-positive and RBD-negative individuals revealed further that non-infected RBD-negative blood group O individuals have antibodies that strongly bind to RBD modified with blood group A antigen structures. The binding of IgGs derived from sera of non-infected RBD-negative blood group O individuals to blood group A antigens on SARS-CoV-2 RBD suggests that these antibodies could provide some degree of protection from virus infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia König-Beihammer
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Ulrike Vavra
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Yun-Ji Shin
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Christiane Veit
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Clemens Grünwald-Gruber
- Core Facility Mass Spectrometry, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Muthgasse, Austria
| | - Yasmin Gillitschka
- Core Facility Mass Spectrometry, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Jasmin Huber
- Core Facility Mass Spectrometry, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Manuela Hofner
- Core Facility Mass Spectrometry, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Klemens Vierlinger
- Core Facility Mass Spectrometry, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | | | - Andreas Weinhäusel
- Core Facility Mass Spectrometry, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Richard Strasser
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
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18
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Improving Protein Quantity and Quality—The Next Level of Plant Molecular Farming. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23031326. [PMID: 35163249 PMCID: PMC8836236 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23031326] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2021] [Revised: 01/21/2022] [Accepted: 01/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Plants offer several unique advantages in the production of recombinant pharmaceuticals for humans and animals. Although numerous recombinant proteins have been expressed in plants, only a small fraction have been successfully put into use. The hugely distinct expression systems between plant and animal cells frequently cause insufficient yield of the recombinant proteins with poor or undesired activity. To overcome the issues that greatly constrain the development of plant-produced pharmaceuticals, great efforts have been made to improve expression systems and develop alternative strategies to increase both the quantity and quality of the recombinant proteins. Recent technological revolutions, such as targeted genome editing, deconstructed vectors, virus-like particles, and humanized glycosylation, have led to great advances in plant molecular farming to meet the industrial manufacturing and clinical application standards. In this review, we discuss the technological advances made in various plant expression platforms, with special focus on the upstream designs and milestone achievements in improving the yield and glycosylation of the plant-produced pharmaceutical proteins.
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19
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Margolin E, Verbeek M, de Moor W, Chapman R, Meyers A, Schäfer G, Williamson AL, Rybicki E. Investigating Constraints Along the Plant Secretory Pathway to Improve Production of a SARS-CoV-2 Spike Vaccine Candidate. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2022; 12:798822. [PMID: 35058959 PMCID: PMC8764404 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2021.798822] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2021] [Accepted: 11/29/2021] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Given the complex maturation requirements of viral glycoproteins and the challenge they often pose for expression in plants, the identification of host constraints precluding their efficient production is a priority for the molecular farming of vaccines. Building on previous work to improve viral glycoprotein production in plants, we investigated the production of a soluble SARS-CoV-2 spike comprising the ectopic portion of the glycoprotein. This was successfully transiently expressed in N. benthamiana by co-expressing the human lectin-binding chaperone calreticulin, which substantially increased the accumulation of the glycoprotein. The spike was mostly unprocessed unless the protease furin was co-expressed which resulted in highly efficient processing of the glycoprotein. Co-expression of several broad-spectrum protease inhibitors did not improve accumulation of the protein any further. The protein was successfully purified by affinity chromatography and gel filtration, although the purified product was heterogenous and the yields were low. Immunogenicity of the antigen was tested in BALB/c mice, and cellular and antibody responses were elicited after low dose inoculation with the adjuvanted protein. This work constitutes an important proof-of-concept for host plant engineering in the context of rapid vaccine development for SARS-CoV-2 and other emerging viruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emmanuel Margolin
- Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Africa, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Biopharming Research Unit, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Matthew Verbeek
- Biopharming Research Unit, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Warren de Moor
- Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Ros Chapman
- Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Ann Meyers
- Biopharming Research Unit, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Georgia Schäfer
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Africa, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Biopharming Research Unit, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Observatory, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Anna-Lise Williamson
- Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Africa, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Biopharming Research Unit, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Edward Rybicki
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Biopharming Research Unit, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
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Abstract
The regulation of molecular farming is a complex topic because plants and plant-based systems are relative newcomers among the many production platforms available for recombinant proteins. The regulations specific for different types of product (human/veterinary pharmaceuticals and medical devices, cosmetics, diagnostics, and research reagents) must therefore be overlaid with the regulations governing hitherto unfamiliar production platforms, and this must be achieved in different jurisdictions that handle genetically modified organisms (and genetically modified plants in particular) in very different ways. This chapter uses examples of different product types and production methods in three different jurisdictions (the USA, the EU, and Canada) to demonstrate some of the challenges facing the regulatory authorities.
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21
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Recent advances in molecular farming using monocot plants. Biotechnol Adv 2022; 58:107913. [DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2022.107913] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2021] [Revised: 01/13/2022] [Accepted: 01/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
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22
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Tariq M, Hur J, Seo JW, Kim DY, Yun NR, Lee YM, Bang MS, Hwang SY, Kim CM, Lee JH, Song KH, Lee H, Jung J, Park JY, Kim HB, Kim ES, Lee S, Kim DM. Usefulness of ELISA Using Total Antibody against Plant-Expressed Recombinant Nucleocapsid Protein of SARS-CoV-2. Microbiol Spectr 2021; 9:e0067221. [PMID: 34817278 PMCID: PMC8612163 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.00672-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2021] [Accepted: 10/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Here, we aimed to investigate the diagnostic value of a serological assay using the nucleocapsid protein developed for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) detection and evaluated its performance using three commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs), namely, Standard E 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) total antibody (Ab) ELISA (SD Biosensor), and EDI novel coronavirus COVID-19 IgG and IgM ELISA. A recombinant nucleocapsid protein (rNP) was expressed from plants and Escherichia coli for the detection of serum total Ab. We prospectively collected 141 serum samples from 32 patients with reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR)-confirmed COVID-19 and determined the sensitivity and dynamics of their total Ab response. Specificity was evaluated using 158 prepandemic samples. To validate the assays, we evaluated the performance using two different cutoff values. The sensitivity and specificity for each assay were as follows: 92.91% and 94.30% (plant-rNP), 83.69% and 98.73% (SD Biosensor), 75.89% and 98.10% (E. coli-rNP), 76.47% and 100% (EDI-IgG), and 80.39% and 80% (EDI-IgM). The plant-based rNP showed the highest sensitivity and area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (0.980) among all the assays (P < 0.05). The seroconversion rate for total Ab increased sequentially with disease progression, with a sensitivity of 100% after 10 to 12 days of post-symptom onset (PSO) for both rNP-plant-based and SD Biosensor ELISAs. After 2 weeks of PSO, the seroconversion rates were >80% and 100% for EDI-IgM and EDI-IgG ELISA, respectively. Seroconversion occurred earlier with rNP plant-based ELISA (5 days PSO) compared with E. coli-based (7 days PSO) and SD Biosensor (8 days PSO) ELISA. We determined that rNP produced in plants enables the robust detection of SARS-CoV-2 total Abs. The assay can be used for serosurvey and complementary diagnosis of COVID-19. IMPORTANCE At present, the principal diagnostic methods for COVID-19 comprise the identification of viral nucleic acid by genetic approaches, including PCR-based techniques or next-generation sequencing. However, there is an urgent need for validated serological assays which are crucial for the understanding of immune responses against SARS-CoV-2. In this study, a highly sensitive and specific serological antibody assay was developed for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 with an overall accuracy of 93.56% using a recombinant nucleoprotein expressed from plants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Misbah Tariq
- Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Chosun University, Gwangju, Republic of Korea
| | - Jian Hur
- Department of Infectious Disease Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, Republic of Korea
| | - Jun-Won Seo
- Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Chosun University, Gwangju, Republic of Korea
| | - Da Young Kim
- Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Chosun University, Gwangju, Republic of Korea
| | - Na Ra Yun
- Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Chosun University, Gwangju, Republic of Korea
| | - You Mi Lee
- Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Chosun University, Gwangju, Republic of Korea
| | - Mi-Seon Bang
- Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Chosun University, Gwangju, Republic of Korea
| | - Seong Yeon Hwang
- Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Chosun University, Gwangju, Republic of Korea
| | - Choon-Mee Kim
- Premedical Science, College of Medicine, Chosun University, Gwangju, Republic of Korea
| | - Ju-Hyung Lee
- Department of Preventive Medicine, Jeonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Republic of Korea
| | - Kyoung-Ho Song
- Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, College of Medicine, Seongnam, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyunju Lee
- Department of Pediatrics, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Republic of Korea
| | - Jongtak Jung
- Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, College of Medicine, Seongnam, Republic of Korea
| | - Ji Young Park
- Department of Pediatrics, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Republic of Korea
| | - Hong Bin Kim
- Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, College of Medicine, Seongnam, Republic of Korea
| | - Eu Suk Kim
- Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, College of Medicine, Seongnam, Republic of Korea
| | - Sangmin Lee
- BioApplications Inc., Pohang, Republic of Korea
| | - Dong-Min Kim
- Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Chosun University, Gwangju, Republic of Korea
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23
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Seifert GJ, Strasser R, Van Damme EJM. Editorial: Plant Glycobiology - A Sweet World of Glycans, Glycoproteins, Glycolipids, and Carbohydrate-Binding Proteins. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2021; 12:751923. [PMID: 34539724 PMCID: PMC8446655 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2021.751923] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2021] [Accepted: 08/09/2021] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Georg J Seifert
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Richard Strasser
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
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24
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Mamedov T, Yuksel D, Ilgın M, Gurbuzaslan I, Gulec B, Yetiskin H, Uygut MA, Islam Pavel ST, Ozdarendeli A, Mammadova G, Say D, Hasanova G. Plant-Produced Glycosylated and In Vivo Deglycosylated Receptor Binding Domain Proteins of SARS-CoV-2 Induce Potent Neutralizing Responses in Mice. Viruses 2021; 13:1595. [PMID: 34452461 PMCID: PMC8402646 DOI: 10.3390/v13081595] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2021] [Revised: 08/08/2021] [Accepted: 08/08/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has rapidly spread to more than 222 countries and has put global public health at high risk. The world urgently needs cost-effective and safe SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, antiviral, and therapeutic drugs to control it. In this study, we engineered the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein and produced it in the plant Nicotiana benthamiana in a glycosylated and deglycosylated form. Expression levels of both glycosylated (gRBD) and deglycosylated (dRBD) RBD were greater than 45 mg/kg fresh weight. The purification yields were 22 mg of pure protein/kg of plant biomass for gRBD and 20 mg for dRBD, which would be sufficient for commercialization of these vaccine candidates. The purified plant-produced RBD protein was recognized by an S protein-specific monoclonal antibody, demonstrating specific reactivity of the antibody to the plant-produced RBD proteins. The SARS-CoV-2 RBD showed specific binding to angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), the SARS-CoV-2 receptor. In mice, the plant-produced RBD antigens elicited high titers of antibodies with a potent virus-neutralizing activity. To our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating that mice immunized with plant-produced deglycosylated RBD form elicited high titer of RBD-specific antibodies with potent neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2 infection. Thus, obtained data support that plant-produced glycosylated and in vivo deglycosylated RBD antigens, developed in this study, are promising vaccine candidates for the prevention of COVID-19.
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MESH Headings
- Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2/metabolism
- Animals
- Antibodies, Monoclonal/immunology
- Antibodies, Neutralizing/blood
- Antibodies, Neutralizing/immunology
- Antibodies, Viral/blood
- Antibodies, Viral/immunology
- Chlorocebus aethiops
- Glycosylation
- Male
- Mice
- Mice, Inbred BALB C
- Neutralization Tests
- Plants, Genetically Modified
- Protein Binding
- Protein Domains
- Protein Engineering
- Protein Stability
- Receptors, Coronavirus/metabolism
- Recombinant Proteins/chemistry
- Recombinant Proteins/metabolism
- SARS-CoV-2/immunology
- Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus/chemistry
- Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus/genetics
- Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus/immunology
- Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus/metabolism
- Nicotiana/genetics
- Nicotiana/metabolism
- Vero Cells
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Affiliation(s)
- Tarlan Mamedov
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, 07058 Antalya, Turkey; (D.Y.); (M.I.); (I.G.); (B.G.); (G.M.); (D.S.); (G.H.)
| | - Damla Yuksel
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, 07058 Antalya, Turkey; (D.Y.); (M.I.); (I.G.); (B.G.); (G.M.); (D.S.); (G.H.)
| | - Merve Ilgın
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, 07058 Antalya, Turkey; (D.Y.); (M.I.); (I.G.); (B.G.); (G.M.); (D.S.); (G.H.)
| | - Irem Gurbuzaslan
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, 07058 Antalya, Turkey; (D.Y.); (M.I.); (I.G.); (B.G.); (G.M.); (D.S.); (G.H.)
| | - Burcu Gulec
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, 07058 Antalya, Turkey; (D.Y.); (M.I.); (I.G.); (B.G.); (G.M.); (D.S.); (G.H.)
| | - Hazel Yetiskin
- Department of Microbiology, Medical Faculty, Erciyes University, 38280 Kayseri, Turkey; (H.Y.); (M.A.U.); (S.T.I.P.); (A.O.)
- Vaccine Research, Development and Application Center, Erciyes University, 38280 Kayseri, Turkey
| | - Muhammet Ali Uygut
- Department of Microbiology, Medical Faculty, Erciyes University, 38280 Kayseri, Turkey; (H.Y.); (M.A.U.); (S.T.I.P.); (A.O.)
| | - Shaikh Terkis Islam Pavel
- Department of Microbiology, Medical Faculty, Erciyes University, 38280 Kayseri, Turkey; (H.Y.); (M.A.U.); (S.T.I.P.); (A.O.)
- Vaccine Research, Development and Application Center, Erciyes University, 38280 Kayseri, Turkey
| | - Aykut Ozdarendeli
- Department of Microbiology, Medical Faculty, Erciyes University, 38280 Kayseri, Turkey; (H.Y.); (M.A.U.); (S.T.I.P.); (A.O.)
- Vaccine Research, Development and Application Center, Erciyes University, 38280 Kayseri, Turkey
| | - Gulshan Mammadova
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, 07058 Antalya, Turkey; (D.Y.); (M.I.); (I.G.); (B.G.); (G.M.); (D.S.); (G.H.)
| | - Deniz Say
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, 07058 Antalya, Turkey; (D.Y.); (M.I.); (I.G.); (B.G.); (G.M.); (D.S.); (G.H.)
| | - Gulnara Hasanova
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, 07058 Antalya, Turkey; (D.Y.); (M.I.); (I.G.); (B.G.); (G.M.); (D.S.); (G.H.)
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25
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Chincinska IA. Leaf infiltration in plant science: old method, new possibilities. PLANT METHODS 2021; 17:83. [PMID: 34321022 PMCID: PMC8316707 DOI: 10.1186/s13007-021-00782-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2021] [Accepted: 07/11/2021] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
The penetration of substances from the surface to deep inside plant tissues is called infiltration. Although various plant tissues may be effectively saturated with externally applied fluid, most described infiltration strategies have been developed for leaves. The infiltration process can be spontaneous (under normal atmospheric pressure) or forced by a pressure difference generated between the lamina surface and the inside of the leaf. Spontaneous infiltration of leaf laminae is possible with the use of liquids with sufficiently low surface tension. Forced infiltration is most commonly performed using needle-less syringes or vacuum pumps.Leaf infiltration is widely used in plant sciences for both research and application purposes, usually as a starting technique to obtain plant material for advanced experimental procedures. Leaf infiltration followed by gentle centrifugation allows to obtain the apoplastic fluid for further analyses including various omics. In studies of plant-microorganism interactions, infiltration is used for the controlled introduction of bacterial suspensions into leaf tissues or for the isolation of microorganisms inhabiting apoplastic spaces of leaves. The methods based on infiltration of target tissues allow the penetration of dyes, fixatives and other substances improving the quality of microscopic imaging. Infiltration has found a special application in plant biotechnology as a method of transient transformation with the use of Agrobacterium suspension (agroinfiltration) enabling genetic modifications of mature plant leaves, including the local induction of mutations using genome editing tools. In plant nanobiotechnology, the leaves of the target plants can be infiltrated with suitably prepared nanoparticles, which can act as light sensors or increase the plant resistance to environmental stress. In addition the infiltration has been also intensively studied due to the undesirable effects of this phenomenon in some food technology sectors, such as accidental contamination of leafy greens with pathogenic bacteria during the vacuum cooling process.This review, inspired by the growing interest of the scientists from various fields of plant science in the phenomenon of infiltration, provides the description of different infiltration methods and summarizes the recent applications of this technique in plant physiology, phytopathology and plant (nano-)biotechnology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Izabela Anna Chincinska
- Department of Plant Physiology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, University of Gdańsk, ul. Wita Stwosza 59, 80-308, Gdańsk, Poland.
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26
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Kim JE, Son SH, Oh SS, Kim SC, Lee JY. Pairing of orthogonal chaperones with a cytochrome P450 enhances terpene synthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Biotechnol J 2021; 17:e2000452. [PMID: 34269523 DOI: 10.1002/biot.202000452] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2020] [Revised: 06/24/2021] [Accepted: 07/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
The supply of terpenes is often limited by their low extraction yield from natural resources, such as plants. Thus, microbial biosynthesis has emerged as an attractive platform for the production of terpenes. Many strategies have been applied to engineer microbes to improve terpene production capabilities; however, functional expression of heterologous proteins such as cytochrome P450 enzymes (P450s) in microbes is a major obstacle. This study reports the successful pairing of cognate chaperones and P450s for functional heterologous expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This chaperone pairing was exploited to facilitate the functional assembly of the protopanaxadiol (PPD) biosynthesis pathway, which consists of a P450 oxygenase and a P450 reductase redox partner originating from Panax ginseng and Arabidopsis thaliana, respectively. We identified several chaperones required for protein folding in P. ginseng and A. thaliana and evaluated the impact of the coexpression of the corresponding chaperones on the synthesis and activity of PPD biosynthesis enzymes. Expression of a chaperone from P. ginseng (PgCPR5), a cognate of PPD biosynthesis enzymes, significantly increased PPD production by more than 2.5-fold compared with that in the corresponding control strain. Thus, pairing of chaperones with heterologous enzymes provides an effective strategy for the construction of challenging biosynthesis pathways in yeast.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jae-Eung Kim
- Research Center for Bio-based Chemistry, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), Ulsan, Republic of Korea
| | - So-Hee Son
- Research Center for Bio-based Chemistry, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), Ulsan, Republic of Korea.,School of Interdisciplinary Bioscience and Bioengineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, Gyeongbuk, Republic of Korea
| | - Seung Soo Oh
- School of Interdisciplinary Bioscience and Bioengineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, Gyeongbuk, Republic of Korea.,Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, Gyeongbuk, Republic of Korea
| | - Sun Chang Kim
- Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Republic of Korea
| | - Ju Young Lee
- Research Center for Bio-based Chemistry, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), Ulsan, Republic of Korea
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27
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Producing Vaccines against Enveloped Viruses in Plants: Making the Impossible, Difficult. Vaccines (Basel) 2021; 9:vaccines9070780. [PMID: 34358196 PMCID: PMC8310165 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines9070780] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2021] [Revised: 07/07/2021] [Accepted: 07/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The past 30 years have seen the growth of plant molecular farming as an approach to the production of recombinant proteins for pharmaceutical and biotechnological uses. Much of this effort has focused on producing vaccine candidates against viral diseases, including those caused by enveloped viruses. These represent a particular challenge given the difficulties associated with expressing and purifying membrane-bound proteins and achieving correct assembly. Despite this, there have been notable successes both from a biochemical and a clinical perspective, with a number of clinical trials showing great promise. This review will explore the history and current status of plant-produced vaccine candidates against enveloped viruses to date, with a particular focus on virus-like particles (VLPs), which mimic authentic virus structures but do not contain infectious genetic material.
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28
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Shin YJ, König-Beihammer J, Vavra U, Schwestka J, Kienzl NF, Klausberger M, Laurent E, Grünwald-Gruber C, Vierlinger K, Hofner M, Margolin E, Weinhäusel A, Stöger E, Mach L, Strasser R. N-Glycosylation of the SARS-CoV-2 Receptor Binding Domain Is Important for Functional Expression in Plants. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2021; 12:689104. [PMID: 34211491 PMCID: PMC8239413 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2021.689104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2021] [Accepted: 05/20/2021] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
Nicotiana benthamiana is used worldwide as production host for recombinant proteins. Many recombinant proteins such as monoclonal antibodies, growth factors or viral antigens require posttranslational modifications like glycosylation for their function. Here, we transiently expressed different variants of the glycosylated receptor binding domain (RBD) from the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in N. benthamiana. We characterized the impact of variations in RBD-length and posttranslational modifications on protein expression, yield and functionality. We found that a truncated RBD variant (RBD-215) consisting of amino acids Arg319-Leu533 can be efficiently expressed as a secreted soluble protein. Purified RBD-215 was mainly present as a monomer and showed binding to the conformation-dependent antibody CR3022, the cellular receptor angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and to antibodies present in convalescent sera. Expression of RBD-215 in glycoengineered ΔXT/FT plants resulted in the generation of complex N-glycans on both N-glycosylation sites. While site-directed mutagenesis showed that the N-glycans are important for proper RBD folding, differences in N-glycan processing had no effect on protein expression and function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yun-Ji Shin
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Julia König-Beihammer
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Ulrike Vavra
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Jennifer Schwestka
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Nikolaus F. Kienzl
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Miriam Klausberger
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Elisabeth Laurent
- Department of Biotechnology, Core Facility Biomolecular and Cellular Analysis, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Clemens Grünwald-Gruber
- Department of Chemistry, Core Facility Mass Spectrometry, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Klemens Vierlinger
- Competence Unit Molecular Diagnostics, Center for Health and Bioresources, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Vienna, Austria
| | - Manuela Hofner
- Competence Unit Molecular Diagnostics, Center for Health and Bioresources, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Vienna, Austria
| | - Emmanuel Margolin
- Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Biopharming Research Unit, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Andreas Weinhäusel
- Competence Unit Molecular Diagnostics, Center for Health and Bioresources, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Vienna, Austria
| | - Eva Stöger
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Lukas Mach
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Richard Strasser
- Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, Institute of Plant Biotechnology and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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29
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Jung JW, Shin JH, Lee WK, Begum H, Min CH, Jang MH, Oh HB, Yang MS, Kim SR. Inactivation of the β (1, 2)-xylosyltransferase and the α (1, 3)-fucosyltransferase gene in rice (Oryza sativa) by multiplex CRISPR/Cas9 strategy. PLANT CELL REPORTS 2021; 40:1025-1035. [PMID: 33547931 DOI: 10.1007/s00299-021-02667-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2020] [Accepted: 01/19/2021] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
KEY MESSAGE CRISPR/Cas9-mediated OsXylT and OsFucT mutation caused the elimination of plant-specific β1,2-xylose and α1,3-fucose residues on glycoproteins in rice, which is the first report of OsXylT/OsFucT double KO mutation in rice. N-glycosylation pathway is the one of post-translational mechanism and is known as highly conserved in eukaryotes. However, the process for complex-N-glycan modification is different between mammals and plants. In plant-specific manner, β1,2-xylose and α1,3-fucose residues are transferred to N-glycan core structure on glycoproteins by β1,2-xylosyltransferase (β1,2-XylT) and α1,3-fucosyltransferase (α1,3-FucT), respectively. As an effort to use plants as a platform to produce biopharmaceuticals, the plant-specific N-glycan genes of rice (Oryza sativa), β1,2-xylT (OsXylT) and α1,3-FucT (OsFucT), were knocked out using multiplex CRISPR/Cas9 technology. The double knock-out lines were found to have frameshift mutations by INDELs. Both β1,2-xylose and α1,3-fucose residues in the lines were not detected in Western blot analysis. Consistently, there was no peak corresponding to the N-glycans in MALDI-TOF/MS analysis. Although α1,3-fucose and β1,2-xylose residues were not detected in the line, other plant-specific residues of β1,3-galactose and α1,4-fucose were detected. Thus, we suggest that each enzymes working on the process for complex N-glycan biosynthesis might independently act in rice, hence the double knock-out of both OsXylT and OsFucT might be not enough to humanize N-glycan structure in rice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jae-Wan Jung
- Department of Molecular Biology, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do, 561-756, Republic of Korea
- Department of Biological Chemistry, John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7UH, UK
| | - Jun-Hye Shin
- Department of Life Science, Sogang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- PhytoMab Co., Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Won-Kyung Lee
- Department of Life Science, Sogang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Hilal Begum
- Department of Life Science, Sogang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Chan-Hong Min
- Department of Chemistry, Sogang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Mi-Hwa Jang
- Department of Life Science, Sogang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Han-Bin Oh
- Department of Chemistry, Sogang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Moon-Sik Yang
- Department of Molecular Biology, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do, 561-756, Republic of Korea
| | - Seong-Ryong Kim
- Department of Life Science, Sogang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
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30
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Makatsa MS, Tincho MB, Wendoh JM, Ismail SD, Nesamari R, Pera F, de Beer S, David A, Jugwanth S, Gededzha MP, Mampeule N, Sanne I, Stevens W, Scott L, Blackburn J, Mayne ES, Keeton RS, Burgers WA. SARS-CoV-2 Antigens Expressed in Plants Detect Antibody Responses in COVID-19 Patients. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2021; 12:589940. [PMID: 33868324 PMCID: PMC8044419 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2021.589940] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2020] [Accepted: 03/12/2021] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Background: The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has swept the world and poses a significant global threat to lives and livelihoods, with 115 million confirmed cases and at least 2.5 million deaths from Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the first year of the pandemic. Developing tools to measure seroprevalence and understand protective immunity to SARS-CoV-2 is a priority. We aimed to develop a serological assay using plant-derived recombinant viral proteins, which represent important tools in less-resourced settings. Methods: We established an indirect ELISA using the S1 and receptor-binding domain (RBD) portions of the spike protein from SARS-CoV-2, expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana. We measured antibody responses in sera from South African patients (n = 77) who had tested positive by PCR for SARS-CoV-2. Samples were taken a median of 6 weeks after the diagnosis, and the majority of participants had mild and moderate COVID-19 disease. In addition, we tested the reactivity of pre-pandemic plasma (n = 58) and compared the performance of our in-house ELISA with a commercial assay. We also determined whether our assay could detect SARS-CoV-2-specific IgG and IgA in saliva. Results: We demonstrate that SARS-CoV-2-specific immunoglobulins are readily detectable using recombinant plant-derived viral proteins, in patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by PCR. Reactivity to S1 and RBD was detected in 51 (66%) and 48 (62%) of participants, respectively. Notably, we detected 100% of samples identified as having S1-specific antibodies by a validated, high sensitivity commercial ELISA, and optical density (OD) values were strongly and significantly correlated between the two assays. For the pre-pandemic plasma, 1/58 (1.7%) of samples were positive, indicating a high specificity for SARS-CoV-2 in our ELISA. SARS-CoV-2-specific IgG correlated significantly with IgA and IgM responses. Endpoint titers of S1- and RBD-specific immunoglobulins ranged from 1:50 to 1:3,200. S1-specific IgG and IgA were found in saliva samples from convalescent volunteers. Conclusion: We demonstrate that recombinant SARS-CoV-2 proteins produced in plants enable robust detection of SARS-CoV-2 humoral responses. This assay can be used for seroepidemiological studies and to measure the strength and durability of antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 in infected patients in our setting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohau S. Makatsa
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Marius B. Tincho
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Jerome M. Wendoh
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Sherazaan D. Ismail
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Rofhiwa Nesamari
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | | | | | - Anura David
- Department of Molecular Medicine and Haematology, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Sarika Jugwanth
- Department of Immunology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand and National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Maemu P. Gededzha
- Department of Immunology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand and National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Nakampe Mampeule
- Department of Immunology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand and National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Ian Sanne
- Clinical HIV Research Unit, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Wendy Stevens
- Department of Molecular Medicine and Haematology, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Lesley Scott
- Department of Molecular Medicine and Haematology, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Jonathan Blackburn
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Division of Chemical and Systems Biology, Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Elizabeth S. Mayne
- Department of Immunology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand and National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Roanne S. Keeton
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Wendy A. Burgers
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Wellcome Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Africa, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
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Siriwattananon K, Manopwisedjaroen S, Kanjanasirirat P, Budi Purwono P, Rattanapisit K, Shanmugaraj B, Smith DR, Borwornpinyo S, Thitithanyanont A, Phoolcharoen W. Development of Plant-Produced Recombinant ACE2-Fc Fusion Protein as a Potential Therapeutic Agent Against SARS-CoV-2. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2021; 11:604663. [PMID: 33584747 PMCID: PMC7874119 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2020.604663] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2020] [Accepted: 12/03/2020] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative agent of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) which has recently emerged as a potential threat to global public health. SARS-CoV-2 is the third known human coronavirus that has huge impact on the human population after SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. Although some vaccines and therapeutic drugs are currently in clinical trials, none of them are approved for commercial use yet. As with SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 utilizes angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) as the cell entry receptor to enter into the host cell. In this study, we have transiently produced human ACE2 fused with the Fc region of human IgG1 in Nicotiana benthamiana and the in vitro neutralization efficacy of the plant-produced ACE2-Fc fusion protein was assessed. The recombinant ACE2-Fc fusion protein was expressed in N. benthamiana at 100 μg/g leaf fresh weight on day 6 post-infiltration. The recombinant fusion protein showed potent binding to receptor binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2. Importantly, the plant-produced fusion protein exhibited potent anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity in vitro. Treatment with ACE2-Fc fusion protein after viral infection dramatically inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infectivity in Vero cells with an IC50 value of 0.84 μg/ml. Moreover, treatment with ACE2-Fc fusion protein at the pre-entry stage suppressed SARS-CoV-2 infection with an IC50 of 94.66 μg/ml. These findings put a spotlight on the plant-produced ACE2-Fc fusion protein as a potential therapeutic candidate against SARS-CoV-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Konlavat Siriwattananon
- Research Unit for Plant-Produced Pharmaceuticals, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
- Department of Pharmacognosy and Pharmaceutical Botany, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | | | | | - Priyo Budi Purwono
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia
| | - Kaewta Rattanapisit
- Research Unit for Plant-Produced Pharmaceuticals, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
- Department of Pharmacognosy and Pharmaceutical Botany, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Balamurugan Shanmugaraj
- Research Unit for Plant-Produced Pharmaceuticals, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
- Department of Pharmacognosy and Pharmaceutical Botany, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Duncan R. Smith
- Institute of Molecular Bioscience, Mahidol University, Salaya, Thailand
| | - Suparerk Borwornpinyo
- Excellence Center for Drug Discovery, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | | | - Waranyoo Phoolcharoen
- Research Unit for Plant-Produced Pharmaceuticals, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
- Department of Pharmacognosy and Pharmaceutical Botany, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
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32
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Göritzer K, Strasser R. Glycosylation of Plant-Produced Immunoglobulins. EXPERIENTIA SUPPLEMENTUM (2012) 2021; 112:519-543. [PMID: 34687021 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-76912-3_16] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Many economically important protein-based therapeutics like monoclonal antibodies are glycosylated. Due to the recognized importance of this type of posttranslational modification, glycoengineering of expression systems to obtain highly active and homogenous therapeutics is an emerging field. Although most of the monoclonal antibodies on the market are still produced in mammalian expression platforms, plants are emerging as an alternative cost-effective and scalable production platform that allows precise engineering of glycosylation to produce targeted human glycoforms at large homogeneity. Apart from producing more effective antibodies, pure glycoforms are required in efforts to link biological functions to specific glycan structures. Much is already known about the role of IgG1 glycosylation and this antibody class is the dominant recombinant format that has been expressed in plants. By contrast, little attention has been paid to the glycoengineering of recombinant IgG subtypes and the other four classes of human immunoglobulins (IgA, IgD, IgE, and IgM). Except for IgD, all these antibody classes have been expressed in plants and the glycosylation has been analyzed in a site-specific manner. Here, we summarize the current data on glycosylation of plant-produced monoclonal antibodies and discuss the findings in the light of known functions for these glycans.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Richard Strasser
- University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
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33
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Margolin E, Allen JD, Verbeek M, van Diepen M, Ximba P, Chapman R, Meyers A, Williamson AL, Crispin M, Rybicki E. Site-Specific Glycosylation of Recombinant Viral Glycoproteins Produced in Nicotiana benthamiana. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2021; 12:709344. [PMID: 34367227 PMCID: PMC8341435 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2021.709344] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2021] [Accepted: 06/24/2021] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
There is an urgent need to establish large scale biopharmaceutical manufacturing capacity in Africa where the infrastructure for biologics production is severely limited. Molecular farming, whereby pharmaceuticals are produced in plants, offers a cheaper alternative to mainstream expression platforms, and is amenable to rapid large-scale production. However, there are several differences along the plant protein secretory pathway compared to mammalian systems, which constrain the production of complex pharmaceuticals. Viral envelope glycoproteins are important targets for immunization, yet in some cases they accumulate poorly in plants and may not be properly processed. Whilst the co-expression of human chaperones and furin proteases has shown promise, it is presently unclear how plant-specific differences in glycosylation impact the production of these proteins. In many cases it may be necessary to reproduce features of their native glycosylation to produce immunologically relevant vaccines, given that glycosylation is central to the folding and immunogenicity of these antigens. Building on previous work, we transiently expressed model glycoproteins from HIV and Marburg virus in Nicotiana benthamiana and mammalian cells. The proteins were purified and their site-specific glycosylation was determined by mass-spectrometry. Both glycoproteins yielded increased amounts of protein aggregates when produced in plants compared to the equivalent mammalian cell-derived proteins. The glycosylation profiles of the plant-produced glycoproteins were distinct from the mammalian cell produced proteins: they displayed lower levels of glycan occupancy, reduced complex glycans and large amounts of paucimannosidic structures. The elucidation of the site-specific glycosylation of viral glycoproteins produced in N. benthamiana is an important step toward producing heterologous viral glycoproteins in plants with authentic human-like glycosylation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emmanuel Margolin
- Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Africa, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Biopharming Research Unit, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- *Correspondence: Emmanuel Margolin,
| | - Joel D. Allen
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom
| | - Matthew Verbeek
- Biopharming Research Unit, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Michiel van Diepen
- Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Phindile Ximba
- Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Rosamund Chapman
- Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Ann Meyers
- Biopharming Research Unit, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Anna-Lise Williamson
- Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Africa, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Max Crispin
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom
- Max Crispin,
| | - Edward Rybicki
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Biopharming Research Unit, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
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34
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Mamedov T, Gurbuzaslan I, Yuksel D, Ilgin M, Mammadova G, Ozkul A, Hasanova G. Soluble Human Angiotensin- Converting Enzyme 2 as a Potential Therapeutic Tool for COVID-19 is Produced at High Levels In Nicotiana benthamiana Plant With Potent Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Activity. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2021; 12:742875. [PMID: 34938305 PMCID: PMC8685454 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2021.742875] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2021] [Accepted: 11/08/2021] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has rapidly spread to more than 222 countries and has put global public health at high risk. The world urgently needs a safe, cost-effective SARS-CoV-2 vaccine as well as therapeutic and antiviral drugs to combat COVID-19. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), as a key receptor for SARS-CoV-2 infections, has been proposed as a potential therapeutic tool in patients with COVID-19. In this study, we report a high-level production (about ∼0.75 g/kg leaf biomass) of human soluble (truncated) ACE2 in the Nicotiana benthamiana plant. After the Ni-NTA single-step, the purification yields of recombinant plant produced ACE2 protein in glycosylated and deglycosylated forms calculated as ∼0.4 and 0.5 g/kg leaf biomass, respectively. The plant produced recombinant human soluble ACE2s successfully bind to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Importantly, both deglycosylated and glycosylated forms of ACE2 are stable at increased temperatures for extended periods of time and demonstrated strong anti-SARS-CoV-2 activities in vitro. The half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of glycosylated ACE2 (gACE2) and deglycosylated ACE2 (dACE2) were ∼1.0 and 8.48 μg/ml, respectively, for the pre-entry infection, when incubated with 100TCID50 of SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, plant produced soluble ACE2s are promising cost-effective and safe candidates as a potential therapeutic tool in the treatment of patients with COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tarlan Mamedov
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey
- Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Baku, Azerbaijan
- *Correspondence: Tarlan Mamedov,
| | - Irem Gurbuzaslan
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey
| | - Damla Yuksel
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey
| | - Merve Ilgin
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey
| | - Gunay Mammadova
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey
| | - Aykut Ozkul
- Department of Virology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey
- Biotechnology Institute, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Gulnara Hasanova
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey
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35
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Makatsa MS, Tincho MB, Wendoh JM, Ismail SD, Nesamari R, Pera F, de Beer S, David A, Jugwanth S, Gededzha MP, Mampeule N, Sanne I, Stevens W, Scott L, Blackburn J, Mayne ES, Keeton RS, Burgers WA. SARS-CoV-2 Antigens Expressed in Plants Detect Antibody Responses in COVID-19 Patients. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2021; 12:589940. [PMID: 33868324 DOI: 10.1101/2020.08.04.20167940] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2020] [Accepted: 03/12/2021] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Background: The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has swept the world and poses a significant global threat to lives and livelihoods, with 115 million confirmed cases and at least 2.5 million deaths from Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the first year of the pandemic. Developing tools to measure seroprevalence and understand protective immunity to SARS-CoV-2 is a priority. We aimed to develop a serological assay using plant-derived recombinant viral proteins, which represent important tools in less-resourced settings. Methods: We established an indirect ELISA using the S1 and receptor-binding domain (RBD) portions of the spike protein from SARS-CoV-2, expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana. We measured antibody responses in sera from South African patients (n = 77) who had tested positive by PCR for SARS-CoV-2. Samples were taken a median of 6 weeks after the diagnosis, and the majority of participants had mild and moderate COVID-19 disease. In addition, we tested the reactivity of pre-pandemic plasma (n = 58) and compared the performance of our in-house ELISA with a commercial assay. We also determined whether our assay could detect SARS-CoV-2-specific IgG and IgA in saliva. Results: We demonstrate that SARS-CoV-2-specific immunoglobulins are readily detectable using recombinant plant-derived viral proteins, in patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by PCR. Reactivity to S1 and RBD was detected in 51 (66%) and 48 (62%) of participants, respectively. Notably, we detected 100% of samples identified as having S1-specific antibodies by a validated, high sensitivity commercial ELISA, and optical density (OD) values were strongly and significantly correlated between the two assays. For the pre-pandemic plasma, 1/58 (1.7%) of samples were positive, indicating a high specificity for SARS-CoV-2 in our ELISA. SARS-CoV-2-specific IgG correlated significantly with IgA and IgM responses. Endpoint titers of S1- and RBD-specific immunoglobulins ranged from 1:50 to 1:3,200. S1-specific IgG and IgA were found in saliva samples from convalescent volunteers. Conclusion: We demonstrate that recombinant SARS-CoV-2 proteins produced in plants enable robust detection of SARS-CoV-2 humoral responses. This assay can be used for seroepidemiological studies and to measure the strength and durability of antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 in infected patients in our setting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohau S Makatsa
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Marius B Tincho
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Jerome M Wendoh
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Sherazaan D Ismail
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Rofhiwa Nesamari
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | | | | | - Anura David
- Department of Molecular Medicine and Haematology, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Sarika Jugwanth
- Department of Immunology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand and National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Maemu P Gededzha
- Department of Immunology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand and National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Nakampe Mampeule
- Department of Immunology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand and National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Ian Sanne
- Clinical HIV Research Unit, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Wendy Stevens
- Department of Molecular Medicine and Haematology, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Lesley Scott
- Department of Molecular Medicine and Haematology, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Jonathan Blackburn
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Division of Chemical and Systems Biology, Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Elizabeth S Mayne
- Department of Immunology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand and National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Roanne S Keeton
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Wendy A Burgers
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Wellcome Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Africa, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
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36
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Margolin E, Crispin M, Meyers A, Chapman R, Rybicki EP. A Roadmap for the Molecular Farming of Viral Glycoprotein Vaccines: Engineering Glycosylation and Glycosylation-Directed Folding. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2020; 11:609207. [PMID: 33343609 PMCID: PMC7744475 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2020.609207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2020] [Accepted: 11/09/2020] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Immunization with recombinant glycoprotein-based vaccines is a promising approach to induce protective immunity against viruses. However, the complex biosynthetic maturation requirements of these glycoproteins typically necessitate their production in mammalian cells to support their folding and post-translational modification. Despite these clear advantages, the incumbent costs and infrastructure requirements with this approach can be prohibitive in developing countries, and the production scales and timelines may prove limiting when applying these production systems to the control of pandemic viral outbreaks. Plant molecular farming of viral glycoproteins has been suggested as a cheap and rapidly scalable alternative production system, with the potential to perform post-translational modifications that are comparable to mammalian cells. Consequently, plant-produced glycoprotein vaccines for seasonal and pandemic influenza have shown promise in clinical trials, and vaccine candidates against the newly emergent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 have entered into late stage preclinical and clinical testing. However, many other viral glycoproteins accumulate poorly in plants, and are not appropriately processed along the secretory pathway due to differences in the host cellular machinery. Furthermore, plant-derived glycoproteins often contain glycoforms that are antigenically distinct from those present on the native virus, and may also be under-glycosylated in some instances. Recent advances in the field have increased the complexity and yields of biologics that can be produced in plants, and have now enabled the expression of many viral glycoproteins which could not previously be produced in plant systems. In contrast to the empirical optimization that predominated during the early years of molecular farming, the next generation of plant-made products are being produced by developing rational, tailor-made approaches to support their production. This has involved the elimination of plant-specific glycoforms and the introduction into plants of elements of the biosynthetic machinery from different expression hosts. These approaches have resulted in the production of mammalian N-linked glycans and the formation of O-glycan moieties in planta. More recently, plant molecular engineering approaches have also been applied to improve the glycan occupancy of proteins which are not appropriately glycosylated, and to support the folding and processing of viral glycoproteins where the cellular machinery differs from the usual expression host of the protein. Here we highlight recent achievements and remaining challenges in glycoengineering and the engineering of glycosylation-directed folding pathways in plants, and discuss how these can be applied to produce recombinant viral glycoproteins vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emmanuel Margolin
- Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Africa, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Biopharming Research Unit, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Max Crispin
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom
| | - Ann Meyers
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Ros Chapman
- Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Edward P. Rybicki
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Biopharming Research Unit, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
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37
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Bohlender LL, Parsons J, Hoernstein SNW, Rempfer C, Ruiz-Molina N, Lorenz T, Rodríguez Jahnke F, Figl R, Fode B, Altmann F, Reski R, Decker EL. Stable Protein Sialylation in Physcomitrella. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2020; 11:610032. [PMID: 33391325 PMCID: PMC7775405 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2020.610032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2020] [Accepted: 11/30/2020] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
Recombinantly produced proteins are indispensable tools for medical applications. Since the majority of them are glycoproteins, their N-glycosylation profiles are major determinants for their activity, structural properties and safety. For therapeutical applications, a glycosylation pattern adapted to product and treatment requirements is advantageous. Physcomitrium patens (Physcomitrella, moss) is able to perform highly homogeneous complex-type N-glycosylation. Additionally, it has been glyco-engineered to eliminate plant-specific sugar residues by knock-out of the β1,2-xylosyltransferase and α1,3-fucosyltransferase genes (Δxt/ft). Furthermore, Physcomitrella meets wide-ranging biopharmaceutical requirements such as GMP compliance, product safety, scalability and outstanding possibilities for precise genome engineering. However, all plants, in contrast to mammals, lack the capability to perform N-glycan sialylation. Since sialic acids are a common terminal modification on human N-glycans, the property to perform N-glycan sialylation is highly desired within the plant-based biopharmaceutical sector. In this study, we present the successful achievement of protein N-glycan sialylation in stably transformed Physcomitrella. The sialylation ability was achieved in a Δxt/ft moss line by stable expression of seven mammalian coding sequences combined with targeted organelle-specific localization of the encoded enzymes responsible for the generation of β1,4-galactosylated acceptor N-glycans as well as the synthesis, activation, transport and transfer of sialic acid. Production of free (Neu5Ac) and activated (CMP-Neu5Ac) sialic acid was proven. The glycosidic anchor for the attachment of terminal sialic acid was generated by the introduction of a chimeric human β1,4-galactosyltransferase gene under the simultaneous knock-out of the gene encoding the endogenous β1,3-galactosyltransferase. Functional complex-type N-glycan sialylation was confirmed via mass spectrometric analysis of a stably co-expressed recombinant human protein.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lennard L. Bohlender
- Plant Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Juliana Parsons
- Plant Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | | | - Christine Rempfer
- Plant Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Spemann Graduate School of Biology and Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Natalia Ruiz-Molina
- Plant Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Timo Lorenz
- Plant Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Fernando Rodríguez Jahnke
- Plant Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Spemann Graduate School of Biology and Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Rudolf Figl
- Department of Chemistry, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | | | - Friedrich Altmann
- Department of Chemistry, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Ralf Reski
- Plant Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Spemann Graduate School of Biology and Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Signalling Research Centres BIOSS and CIBSS, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Cluster of Excellence livMatS, Freiburg Center for Interactive Materials and Bioinspired Technologies, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Eva L. Decker
- Plant Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- *Correspondence: Eva L. Decker,
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