Generation of plant-derived recombinant DTP subunit vaccine

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Vaccinology
• Molecular Biology

Background:

• Current diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccines are produced from pathogenic bacteria, posing risks of adverse effects and complex, costly manufacturing.
• The standard US vaccination schedule requires five doses of the acellular DTaP vaccine for children.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a safer, more easily renewable, and less expensive subunit DPT vaccine using recombinant technology.
• To explore the feasibility of producing vaccine components in non-pathogenic plant expression systems.

Main Methods:

• Utilized recombinant technology to express diphtheria toxin (DT), tetanus fragment-C (TetC), and pertussis toxin S1 (PTX S1) antigenic proteins in tobacco plants and carrot cell cultures.
• Purified the expressed proteins to levels suitable for intramuscular injection.
• Administered the purified proteins to BALB/c mice to assess immunogenicity.

Main Results:

• Successfully expressed soluble forms of DT, TetC, and PTX S1 antigenic proteins in plant systems.
• Achieved efficient downstream purification of these proteins.
• Demonstrated that 5µg per dose of the plant-derived vaccine components induced high levels of antigen-specific IgGs in mouse sera.

Conclusions:

• The study supports the feasibility of producing recombinant pediatric vaccine components, specifically for DTP, in plant-based expression systems.
• Plant-derived vaccine components show promise as a safer and more sustainable alternative to conventional vaccines.