? The outbreaks of West Nile Virus (WNV) in North America over the last decade indicate its establishment and continued spread throughout the Western hemisphere. At present, no therapeutic or vaccine is available for human use. The continued expanding WNV epidemic demands effective therapeutics and new production technologies that can rapidly transfer them into the clinical setting. The proposed research will advance the development of immunotherapeutics, with an emphasis on technology that allows cost-saving scale-up capability through the use of transgenic plants. The proposed research exploits the facile capability of plant cells to rapidly express and accumulate post-translationally modified proteins, and builds upon our ongoing research to use plant-derived monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) and MAb fusion proteins as therapeutics for viral infections. ? Recent research has shown that a humanized murine MAb (hu-E16) has promising therapeutic potential. A single dose of hu-E16 protected mice and hamsters against WNV-induced mortality even 5 days after infection. In addition to creating a plant-derived hu-E16 mAb with equivalent activity, this project intends to create a novel blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeable variant to enhance potency and prolong the window of opportunity for treatment. Prototype plant-derived proteins will be produced in quantities sufficient for preclinical trials. We will also develop scale-up and purification technology for subsequent production under cGMP conditions. ? Transgenic plants are ideal for MAb production since plant-derived MAb and MAb fusion proteins can be rapidly expanded in commercial production without high-capital cost investments for traditional MAb facilities. Thus, in addition to generating novel therapeutic reagents for WNV, this study will provide proof-of-principle for the rapid development and use of """"""""plantibodies"""""""" against human infectious diseases. Such technology can then be readily applied in the future to other emerging infectious diseases or bioterrorist threats. ? ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Type
Research Project--Cooperative Agreements (U01)
Project #
1U01AI075549-01
Application #
7325989
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZAI1-MH-M (M2))
Program Officer
Tseng, Christopher K
Project Start
2007-08-01
Project End
2011-07-31
Budget Start
2007-08-01
Budget End
2008-07-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2007
Total Cost
$357,247
Indirect Cost
Name
Arizona State University-Tempe Campus
Department
Other Health Professions
Type
Organized Research Units
DUNS #
943360412
City
Tempe
State
AZ
Country
United States
Zip Code
85287
Lai, Huafang; Paul, Amber M; Sun, Haiyan et al. (2018) A plant-produced vaccine protects mice against lethal West Nile virus infection without enhancing Zika or dengue virus infectivity. Vaccine 36:1846-1852
Sun, Haiyan; Chen, Qiang; Lai, Huafang (2017) Development of Antibody Therapeutics against Flaviviruses. Int J Mol Sci 19:
Chen, Qiang (2016) Glycoengineering of plants yields glycoproteins with polysialylation and other defined N-glycoforms. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 113:9404-6
Chen, Qiang (2015) Plant-made vaccines against West Nile virus are potent, safe, and economically feasible. Biotechnol J 10:671-80
Chen, Qiang; Lai, Huafang (2015) Gene delivery into plant cells for recombinant protein production. Biomed Res Int 2015:932161
He, Junyun; Lai, Huafang; Engle, Michael et al. (2014) Generation and analysis of novel plant-derived antibody-based therapeutic molecules against West Nile virus. PLoS One 9:e93541
Lai, Huafang; He, Junyun; Hurtado, Jonathan et al. (2014) Structural and functional characterization of an anti-West Nile virus monoclonal antibody and its single-chain variant produced in glycoengineered plants. Plant Biotechnol J 12:1098-107
He, Junyun; Peng, Li; Lai, Huafang et al. (2014) A plant-produced antigen elicits potent immune responses against West Nile virus in mice. Biomed Res Int 2014:952865
Chen, Qiang; Lai, Huafang (2013) Plant-derived virus-like particles as vaccines. Hum Vaccin Immunother 9:26-49
Chen, Qiang; Lai, Huafang; Hurtado, Jonathan et al. (2013) Agroinfiltration as an Effective and Scalable Strategy of Gene Delivery for Production of Pharmaceutical Proteins. Adv Tech Biol Med 1:

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