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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
immunology and microbiology
Optimization of human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16) L1 expression in plants: Comparison of the suitability of different HPV-16 L1 gene variants and different cell-compartment localization
Journal of General Virology, Volume 88, No. 5, Year 2007
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Description
Virus-like particle-based vaccines for high-risk human papillomaviruses (HPVs) appear to have great promise; however, cell culture-derived vaccines will probably be very expensive. The optimization of expression of different codon-optimized versions of the HPV-16 L1 capsid protein gene in plants has been explored by means of transient expression from a novel suite of Agrobacterium tumefaciens binary expression vectors, which allow targeting of recombinant protein to the cytoplasm, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) or chloroplasts. A gene resynthesized to reflect human codon usage expresses better than the native gene, which expresses better than a plant-optimized gene. Moreover, chloroplast localization allows significantly higher levels of accumulation of L1 protein than does cytoplasmic localization, whilst ER retention was least successful. High levels of L1 (>17% total soluble protein) could be produced via transient expression: the protein assembled into higher-order structures visible by electron microscopy, and a concentrated extract was highly immunogenic in mice after subcutaneous injection and elicited high-titre neutralizing antibodies. Transgenic tobacco plants expressing a human codon-optimized gene linked to a chloroplast-targeting signal expressed L1 at levels up to 11% of the total soluble protein. These are the highest levels of HPV L1 expression reported for plants: these results, and the excellent immunogenicity of the product, significantly improve the prospects of making a conventional HPV vaccine by this means. © 2007 SGM.
Authors & Co-Authors
Maclean, James M.
South Africa, Cape Town
Faculty of Health Sciences
South Africa, Cape Town
University of Cape Town
Koekemoer, M.
South Africa, Cape Town
University of Cape Town
Olivier, Abraham Jacobus
South Africa, Cape Town
The Biovac Institute
Stewart, Deborah
South Africa, Cape Town
Faculty of Health Sciences
Hitzeroth, I. I.
South Africa, Cape Town
Faculty of Health Sciences
Rademacher, T.
Germany, Munich
Fraunhofer-gesellschaft
Fischer, Rainer
Germany, Munich
Fraunhofer-gesellschaft
Williamson, Anna Lise
South Africa, Cape Town
Faculty of Health Sciences
Rybicki, Edward P.
South Africa, Cape Town
Faculty of Health Sciences
South Africa, Cape Town
University of Cape Town
Statistics
Citations: 216
Authors: 9
Affiliations: 4
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1099/vir.0.82718-0
ISSN:
00221317
Research Areas
Cancer
Genetics And Genomics
Substance Abuse