Facilitating viral vector movement enhances heterologous protein production in an established plant system. Issue 3 (4th January 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wang, Xu; Prokhnevsky, Alexei I.; Skarjinskaia, Marina; Razzak, Md Abdur; Streatfield, Stephen J.; Lee, Jung‐Youn
• Is Part Of: Plant biotechnology journal. Volume 21:Issue 3(2023)
• Page Start: 635
• Page End: 645
• Publication Date: 2023-01-04
• Subjects: Molecular farming -- plant‐based pharmaceutical -- tobacco mosaic virus -- viral expression vector -- plasmodesmata -- cell‐to‐cell movement; Plant biotechnology -- Periodicals; Plant genetic engineering -- Periodicals; 630.272
• DOI: 10.1111/pbi.13977
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1467-7644

Abstract

Summary: Molecular farming technology using transiently transformed Nicotiana plants offers an economical approach to the pharmaceutical industry to produce an array of protein targets including vaccine antigens and therapeutics. It can serve as a desirable alternative approach for those proteins that are challenging or too costly to produce in large quantities using other heterologous protein expression systems. However, since cost metrics are such a critical factor in selecting a production host, any system‐wide modifications that can increase recombinant protein yields are key to further improving the platform and making it applicable for a wider range of target molecules. Here, we report on the development of a new approach to improve target accumulation in an established plant‐based expression system that utilizes viral‐based vectors to mediate transient expression in Nicotiana benthamiana . We show that by engineering the host plant to support viral vectors to spread more effectively between host cells through plasmodesmata, protein target accumulation can be increased by up to approximately 60%. Abstract : A transgenic N. benthamiana line (Sm5) engineered to facilitate cell‐to‐cell movement enhances the local and systemic spread of a fluorescently tagged TMV vector.