There are several major costs associated with the production of vaccines and biopharmaceuticals. Production of therapeutic proteins in plants should eliminate the use of cost-prohibitive fermenters. For example, we have shown that 1 acre of chloroplast transgenic plants can produce up to 360 million doses of clean, safe, and fully functional anthrax vaccine antigen. In our first NIH funded project, chloroplasts have been successfully engineered to produce various vaccine antigens and human blood proteins in the soluble stromal compartment. Transgenic plants expressing vaccine antigens (e.g.-anthrax plague) and human blood proteins (e.g.- interferon alpha 2b, human serum albumin) have been grown in the field and their functionality has been determined by in vitro assays and/or animal studies. However, many viral antigens and human blood proteins are anchored to membranes and require glycosylation for their stability and functionality. While 60% of all human drug targets are membrane proteins, very few have been studied due to their low abundance and limited availability. Therefore, new concepts in chloroplast genetic engineering to express membrane proteins, glycoproteins, and other completely folded peptides requiring unique post-translational modifications (e.g.-cyclization after formation of disulfide bonds) are proposed here. Oral delivery of therapeutic proteins expressed in plant cells offers several advantages including protection in the digestive system by bioencapsulation, followed by slow release in the gut;elimination of expensive purification steps, the cold chain (low temperature storage and transportation), medical personnel, and sterile injections for their delivery;and generation of both systemic and mucosal immunity from vaccine antigens. Therefore, the proposed objectives are: a)Express and analyze the anti-HIV-1 efficacy of retrocyclins produced in chloroplasts;b) Express multivalent vaccine antigens for subcutaneous or oral delivery (malaria);c) Investigate the oral delivery of therapeutic proteins (insulin, interferon) to the circulatory system and characterize their folding, assembly, and functionality using in vitro cell culture systems and suitable animal models;d) Express therapeutic membrane proteins via the chloroplast genome by targeting them to the chloroplast genome by targeting them to the thylakoid or inner membrane, and perform purification, functional, and structural studies;e) Create a chloroplast capable of glycosylation of a foreign protein using the pgl operon. Successful completion of these studies would make transgenic chloroplasts ideal bioreactors for the production of safe and less expensive therapeutic proteins and open the door for in depth studies of membrane proteins.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01GM063879-08
Application #
7743080
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-CB-A (10))
Program Officer
Jones, Warren
Project Start
2001-07-01
Project End
2012-05-31
Budget Start
2009-12-01
Budget End
2012-05-31
Support Year
8
Fiscal Year
2010
Total Cost
$293,920
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Central Florida
Department
Biochemistry
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
150805653
City
Orlando
State
FL
Country
United States
Zip Code
32826
Kwon, Kwang-Chul; Sherman, Alexandra; Chang, Wan-Jung et al. (2018) Expression and assembly of largest foreign protein in chloroplasts: oral delivery of human FVIII made in lettuce chloroplasts robustly suppresses inhibitor formation in haemophilia A mice. Plant Biotechnol J 16:1148-1160
Xiao, Yuhong; Daniell, Henry (2017) Long-term evaluation of mucosal and systemic immunity and protection conferred by different polio booster vaccines. Vaccine 35:5418-5425
Zhang, Bei; Shanmugaraj, Balamurugan; Daniell, Henry (2017) Expression and functional evaluation of biopharmaceuticals made in plant chloroplasts. Curr Opin Chem Biol 38:17-23
Xiao, Yuhong; Kwon, Kwang-Chul; Hoffman, Brad E et al. (2016) Low cost delivery of proteins bioencapsulated in plant cells to human non-immune or immune modulatory cells. Biomaterials 80:68-79
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Daniell, Henry; Chan, Hui-Ting; Pasoreck, Elise K (2016) Vaccination via Chloroplast Genetics: Affordable Protein Drugs for the Prevention and Treatment of Inherited or Infectious Human Diseases. Annu Rev Genet 50:595-618
Shahid, Naila; Daniell, Henry (2016) Plant-based oral vaccines against zoonotic and non-zoonotic diseases. Plant Biotechnol J 14:2079-2099
Malhotra, Karan; Subramaniyan, Mayavan; Rawat, Khushboo et al. (2016) Compartmentalized Metabolic Engineering for Artemisinin Biosynthesis and Effective Malaria Treatment by Oral Delivery of Plant Cells. Mol Plant 9:1464-1477
Kwon, Kwang-Chul; Chan, Hui-Ting; León, Ileana R et al. (2016) Codon Optimization to Enhance Expression Yields Insights into Chloroplast Translation. Plant Physiol 172:62-77
Pasoreck, Elise K; Su, Jin; Silverman, Ian M et al. (2016) Terpene metabolic engineering via nuclear or chloroplast genomes profoundly and globally impacts off-target pathways through metabolite signalling. Plant Biotechnol J 14:1862-75

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