A plant-based transient expression system for the rapid production of highly immunogenic Hepatitis E virus-like particles.
Biotechnol Lett 2020;
42:2441-2446. [PMID:
32875477 DOI:
10.1007/s10529-020-02995-x]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2020] [Accepted: 08/25/2020] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is a major cause of acute hepatitis worldwide. The aim of the study is the development of plant expression system for the production of virus-like particles formed by HEV capsid and the characterization of their immunogenicity.
RESULTS
Open reading frame (ORF) 2 encodes the viral capsid protein and possesses candidate for vaccine production. In this study, we used truncated genotype 3 HEV ORF 2 consisting of aa residues 110 to 610. The recombinant protein was expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana plants using the self-replicating potato virus X-based vector pEff up to 10% of the soluble protein fraction. The yield of HEV 110-610 after purification was 150-200 µg per 1 g of green leaf biomass. The recombinant protein formed nanosized virus-like particles. The immunization of mice with plant-produced HEV 110-610 protein induced high levels of HEV-specific serum antibodies.
CONCLUSIONS
HEV ORF 2 (110-610 aa) can be used as candidate for the development of a plant-produced vaccine against Hepatitis E.
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