Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Mason, Hugh S.
• Warzecha, Heribert
• Mor, Tsafrir
• Arntzen, Charles J.

Titel

Edible plant vaccines: applications for prophylactic and therapeutic molecular medicine

Ist Teil von

• Trends in Molecular Medicine, 2002-07, Vol.8 (7), p.324-329

Ort / Verlag

England: Elsevier Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2002

Quelle

Elsevier Journal Backfiles on ScienceDirect (DFG Nationallizenzen)

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The use of edible plants for the production and delivery of vaccine proteins could provide an economical alternative to fermentation systems. Genes encoding bacterial and viral antigens are faithfully expressed in edible tissues to form immunogenic proteins. Studies in animals and humans have shown that ingestion of transgenic plants containing vaccine proteins causes production of antigen-specific antibodies in serum and mucosal secretions. In general, the technology is limited by low expression levels for nuclear-integrated transgenes, but recent progress in plant organelle transformation shows promise for enhanced expression. The stability and immunogenicity of orally delivered antigens vary greatly, which necessitates further study on protein engineering to enhance mucosal delivery. These issues are discussed with regard to the further development of plant-based vaccine technology. Plant-based vaccine technology, although promising, is currently limited by low expression levels, stability and immunogenicity. However, progress in plant organel transformation to increase expression levels and protein engineering to enhance mucosal delivery might resolve these problems in the near future.