Edible plant vaccines: applications for prophylactic and therapeutic molecular medicine

• Published in: Trends in Molecular Medicine Vol. 8; no. 7; pp. 324 - 329
• Main Authors: Mason, Hugh S., Warzecha, Heribert, Mor, Tsafrir, Arntzen, Charles J.
• Format: Book Review Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2002
• Subjects: Administration, Oral; Animals; Biotechnology - methods; Clinical Trials as Topic; Diarrhea - prevention & control; Hepatitis B - prevention & control; Humans; infectious disease; Mice; plant vaccine; Plants - chemistry; Plants - metabolism; Plants, Genetically Modified; recombinant protein; Recombinant Proteins - biosynthesis; transgenic plant; Vaccines - chemistry; Vaccines - therapeutic use; Plant Science; plant vaccine; Molecular Medicine; infectious disease; recombinant protein; transgenic plant
• ISSN: 1471-4914; 1471-499X
• DOI: 10.1016/S1471-4914(02)02360-2

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.