Production of Chloroplast-Derived Therapeutic Proteins

Chloroplast transformation has been widely used to the production of therapeutic recombinant proteins. Lifeasible has successfully developed a variety of reliable and economical solutions for chloroplast engineering in biopharmaceuticals. Our engineers focus on developing a variety of therapeutic proteins for the treatment or prevention of human and other animal diseases using chloroplast transformation methods.

Current Status of Therapeutic Proteins Production

The development of molecular biotechnology and advances in genetic engineering have made it possible to produce large quantities of protein drugs, vaccines and industrial enzymes in living organisms. Bacterial and animal cell expression systems have been widely used to produce various therapeutic proteins and are approved for medical use. However, these expression systems are too expensive to operate on a large scale, making protein pharmaceuticals unaffordable for most people. Recently, plants have received increasing attention as a new platform for the production of recombinant proteins as they contain a potential zero risk of contaminating human pathogens and bacterial toxins. In leaf tissue, the chloroplast is one of the most attractive protein-producing organelles. Meanwhile, preliminary immunological studies of chloroplast-derived therapeutic proteins have also yielded promising results in animal models.

Fig. 1. Schematic representation of the technologies involved in different plant platforms for the production of therapeutically important proteins and peptides. (Gomes C, et al., 2019)

Solutions

• Chloroplast-based transformation strategy: target genes are integrated into the chloroplast genome by homologous recombination, followed by transcription and translation in the chloroplast.
• Nuclear-based transformation strategy: the transgene is either transiently expressed in the plant nucleus or stably integrated into the plant nuclear genome, and the translated protein is imported from the cytosol into the chloroplast.

In addition, when considering the most appropriate expression system for the production of therapeutic recombinant proteins, we take into account the following issues.

• Protein size.
• Folding and solubility.
• Post-translational modification.
• Yield.
• Growth conditions and rates.
• Genetic engineering.
• Security risk.

Chloroplast expression systems are ideal for maximizing protein yield, stability and accumulation. Recombinant proteins produced in plant systems are particularly suitable as therapeutic agents for various indications due to their efficacy, selectivity, specificity and low toxicity. Our clients use therapeutic proteins extensively for research in cardiovascular disease, infectious diseases, immune disorders and cancer. Currently, we can provide chloroplast engineering solutions in therapeutic protein production, including but not limited to:

• Production of Chloroplast-Derived Human Somatotropin
• Production of Chloroplast-Derived Human Serum Albumin
• Production of Chloroplast-Derived Antimicrobial Peptides
• Production of Chloroplast-Derived Human Interferon Alpha
• Production of Chloroplast-Derived Human Interferon Gamma
• Production of Chloroplast-Derived Monoclonal Antibodies

Attractive Advantages of Our Solutions

• Plants have inexpensive growing conditions, well-understood manufacturing practices.
• Plants have the ability to carry out post-translational modifications similar to natural systems.
• The chloroplast expression system can rapidly transfect plants and produce therapeutic proteins within a few weeks.
• The plant proteome is highly plastic and facilitates extensive engineering.
• The potential market for therapeutic proteins is huge, with products ranging from antibodies to hormones, from enzymes to vaccines.
• There are a variety of options for plant expression systems, including species, gene constructs, and protein targeting, each best suited for a specific type of therapeutic protein production.

Fig. 2. The flow of of chloroplast-derived therapeutic proteins production.

Lifeasible's goal is to provide customers around the world with fully customized chloroplast engineered solutions for therapeutic protein. It should be noted that we only provide solutions for the development of preclinical therapeutic proteins, but do not produce ready-to-use therapeutic proteins and do not conduct clinical trials. Please contact us to discuss further details to ensure your next success.

References

1. Burnett M J B, Burnett A C. (2020) Therapeutic recombinant protein production in plants: Challenges and opportunities[J]. Plants, People, Planet. 2(2): 121-132.
2. Gomes C, Oliveira F, Vieira S I, et al. (2019) Prospects for the production of recombinant therapeutic proteins and peptides in plants: Special focus on angiotensin I-converting enzyme inhibitory (ACEI) peptides[M]//Genetic Engineering-A Glimpse of Techniques and Applications. IntechOpen.