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Updated: Aug 23, 2025
Transient Expression in Nicotiana Benthamiana Leaves for Triterpene Production at a Preparative Scale
Published on: August 16, 2018
Stable and efficient expression of human brain-derived neurotrophic factor in tobacco chloroplasts
Yunpeng Wang1, Nuo Xu2, Jieying Fan1
1Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology, Jilin Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun, Jilin Province, People's Republic of China.
Background:
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is an intensively studied neurotrophin that promotes various physiological processes, such as acceleration of cell proliferation and differentiation, and is, therefore widely used in clinical applications.
Methods And Results:
In this study, an expression vector with a codon-optimized hBDNF gene was constructed and transferred into chloroplasts of tobacco by gene-gun. After three or four rounds of selection with optimal spectinomycin concentration, hBDNF was integrated into the chloroplast genome of homoplastomic plants, as confirmed by PCR and Southern hybridization. ELISA indicated that hBDNF fused with GFP represented approximately 15.72% ± 0.33% of total soluble protein in the leaves of transplastomic plants. Moreover, the chloroplast-derived hBDNF displayed biological activity similar to the commercial product.
Conclusions:
This is the first case report of hBDNF expression by chloroplast transformation in the plant model, providing an additional pathway for the production of chloroplast-expressed therapeutic proteins.
