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Malik MS, Elahi I, Sameeullah M, Ijaz F, Batool N, Khalid F, Gurel E, Saba K, Waheed MT. In silico designing and characterization of outer membrane protein K (OmpK) from Vibrio anguillarum and its expression in Nicotiana tabacum for the development of a plant-based vaccine against fish vibriosis. J Biotechnol 2024; 380:51-63. [PMID: 38151110 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiotec.2023.12.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2023] [Revised: 12/19/2023] [Accepted: 12/21/2023] [Indexed: 12/29/2023]
Abstract
Vibriosis is caused by Vibrio anguillarum in various species of aquaculture. A novel, secure, and stable vaccine is needed to eradicate vibriosis. Here, for reverse vaccinology and plant-based expression, the outer membrane protein K (OmpK) of V. anguillarum was chosen due to its conserved nature in all Vibrio species. OmpK, an ideal vaccine candidate against vibriosis, demonstrated immunogenic, non-allergic, and non-toxic behavior by using various bioinformatics tools. Docking showed the interaction of the OmpK model with TLR-5. In comparison to costly platforms, plants can be used as alternative and economic bio-factories to produce vaccine antigens. We expressed OmpK antigen in Nicotiana tabacum using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. The expression vector was constructed using Gateway® cloning. Transgene integration was verified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and the copy number via qRT-PCR, which showed two copies of transgenes. Western blotting detected monomeric form of OmpK protein. The total soluble protein (TSP) fraction of OmpK was equivalent to 0.38% as detected by ELISA. Mice and fish were immunized with plant-derived OmpK antigen, which showed a significantly high level of anti-OmpK antibodies. The present study is the first report of OmpK antigen expression in higher plants for the potential use as vaccine in aquaculture against vibriosis, which could provide protection against multiple Vibrio species due to the conserved nature OmpK antigen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Suleman Malik
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Iqra Elahi
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Sameeullah
- Department of Field Crops, Faculty of Agriculture, Bolu Abant Izzet Baysal University, Bolu 14030, Türkiye; Centre for Innovative Food Technologies Development, Application and Research, Bolu Abant Izzet Baysal University, Bolu 14030, Türkiye
| | - Fatima Ijaz
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Neelam Batool
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Fatima Khalid
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Ekrem Gurel
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Literature, Bolu Abant Izzet Baysal University, Bolu 14030, Türkiye
| | - Kiran Saba
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Life Sciences, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University, Peshawar, Pakistan
| | - Mohammad Tahir Waheed
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
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Prasad A, Muthamilarasan M, Prasad M. Synergistic antiviral effects against SARS-CoV-2 by plant-based molecules. Plant Cell Rep 2020; 39:1109-1114. [PMID: 32561979 PMCID: PMC7303273 DOI: 10.1007/s00299-020-02560-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2020] [Accepted: 06/12/2020] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
The exponential spread of Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emphasizes the immediate need for effective antiviral drugs and vaccines that could control and prevent the spread of this pandemic. Several new and repurposed drugs are being tested for their effectiveness in the treatment regime, and the development of vaccines is underway. The availability of genome sequence information of the virus and the identification of potential targets to neutralize and eradicate the infection have enabled the search for novel as well as existing molecules to perform the desired function. However, the application of plants in the development of potential biomolecules, such as antibiotics and vaccines, is limited. Traditional medicines involving plant-based formulations have proven successful in boosting immunity and providing tolerance to virus infections. Still, in-depth studies are not available to explore the bioactive compounds of plant origin and their mechanism of action. Given this, the current opinion article conveys our thoughts and perspectives on the promising usage of plant-based biomolecules in circumventing SARS-CoV-2, and how these molecules can work synergistically with other potential drugs for treating SARS-CoV-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashish Prasad
- National Institute of Plant Genome Research, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi, 110067, India
| | - Mehanathan Muthamilarasan
- Department of Plant Sciences, School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, Telangana, 500046, India
| | - Manoj Prasad
- National Institute of Plant Genome Research, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi, 110067, India.
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Saba K, Gottschamel J, Younus I, Syed T, Gull K, Lössl AG, Mirza B, Waheed MT. Chloroplast-based inducible expression of ESAT-6 antigen for development of a plant-based vaccine against tuberculosis. J Biotechnol 2019; 305:1-10. [PMID: 31454508 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiotec.2019.08.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2019] [Accepted: 08/23/2019] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Mycobacterium tuberculosis causes tuberculosis in humans. The major disease burden of tuberculosis lies in developing countries. Lack of an effective vaccine for adults is one of the major hurdles for controlling this deadly disease. In the present study, 6 kDa early secretory antigenic target (ESAT-6) of M. tuberculosis was inducibly expressed in chloroplasts of Nicotiana tabacum. The expression of ESAT-6 in chloroplasts was controlled by T7 promoter that was activated by nuclear-generated signal peptide. Tobacco plants, containing nuclear component, were transformed via biolistic bombardment with pEXP-T7-ESAT-6 obtained by Gateway® cloning. Transformation and homoplasmic status of transplastomic plants was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction and Southern blotting. Plants were induced for protein expression by spraying with 5% ethanol for 1 day, 3 days, 7 days and 10 days. ESAT-6 protein was detected by immunoblot analysis and maximum protein was obtained for 10 days induced plants that was estimated to accumulate up to 1.2% of total soluble fraction of protein. Transplastomic plants showed completely normal morphology. Transplastomic and untransformed plants became slightly chlorotic upon prolonged exposure to ethanol until 10 days. Taken together, this data could help in the development of an antigen-based subunit vaccine against tuberculosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kiran Saba
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, 45320, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Johanna Gottschamel
- University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Gregor-Mendel-Straße 33, 1180, Vienna, Austria
| | - Iqra Younus
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, 45320, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Tahira Syed
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, 45320, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Kehkshan Gull
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, 45320, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Andreas Günter Lössl
- University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Gregor-Mendel-Straße 33, 1180, Vienna, Austria
| | - Bushra Mirza
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, 45320, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Mohammad Tahir Waheed
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, 45320, Islamabad, Pakistan.
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Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW The requirement for large quantities of therapeutic proteins has fueled a great interest in the production of recombinant proteins in plant bioreactors. The vaccines and bio-therapeutic protein production in plants hold the promise of significantly lowering the cost of manufacturing life-saving drugs. This review will reflect the current status and challenges that the molecular farming platform faces becoming a strategic solution for the development of low-cost bio-therapeutics for developing countries. RECENT FINDINGS Different plant parts have been successfully identified as suitable expression systems for the commercial production of therapeutic proteins for some human and animal diseases ranging from common cold to AIDS. The processed therapeutics from such sources are devoid of any toxic components. The large-scale cultivation of these transgenic plants would be possible anywhere in the world including developing countries, which lack sophisticated drug manufacturing units. A couple of such commercially generated products have already hit the market with success. Newer methods using suitable plant viruses and recombinant gene expression systems have already been devised for producing therapeutic proteins and peptides. SUMMARY Plants are promising bio-factories for therapeutic protein production because of their several advantages over the other expression systems especially the advanced mechanisms for protein synthesis and post-translational modification which are very much similar to animal cells. Plant biotechnologists are much attracted to the bio-farming because of its flexibility, scalability, low manufacturing cost, as well as the lack of risk of toxic or pathogenic contamination. A number of projects on bio-farming are designed and are at various developmental stages but have not yet become available to the pharmaceutical industry. Therefore, we need further advancement in the optimization of lab protocols for up-scaling the production of such therapeutics at commercial level with a promise to offer their best clinical use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ankit Singh
- Department of Biosciences, Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi, 110025 India
| | - Gurminder Kaur
- Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Sector 125, Noida, 201303 India
| | - Sanchita Singh
- Genetics and Plant Molecular Biology Division, CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute, Rana Pratap Marg, Lucknow, U.P 226001 India
| | - Neetu Singh
- Instrumentation Research Facility, Jawahar Lal Nehru University, New Delhi, 110067 India
| | - Gauri Saxena
- Department of Botany, University of Lucknow, Lucknow, 226001 India
| | - Praveen C. Verma
- Genetics and Plant Molecular Biology Division, CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute, Rana Pratap Marg, Lucknow, U.P 226001 India
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Waheed MT, Sameeullah M, Khan FA, Syed T, Ilahi M, Gottschamel J, Lössl AG. Need of cost-effective vaccines in developing countries: What plant biotechnology can offer? Springerplus 2016; 5:65. [PMID: 26839758 PMCID: PMC4722051 DOI: 10.1186/s40064-016-1713-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2015] [Accepted: 01/13/2016] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
To treat current infectious diseases, different therapies are used that include drugs or vaccines or both. Currently, the world is facing an increasing problem of drug resistance from many pathogenic microorganisms. In majority of cases, when vaccines are used, formulations consist of live attenuated microorganisms. This poses an additional risk of infection in immunocompromised patients and people suffering from malnutrition in developing countries. Therefore, there is need to improve drug therapy as well as to develop next generation vaccines, in particular against infectious diseases with highest mortality rates. For patients in developing countries, costs related to treatments are one of the major hurdles to reduce the disease burden. In many cases, use of prophylactic vaccines can help to control the incidence of infectious diseases. In the present review, we describe some infectious diseases with high impact on health of people in low and middle income countries. We discuss the prospects of plants as alternative platform for the development of next-generation subunit vaccines that can be a cost-effective source for mass immunization of people in developing countries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohammad Tahir Waheed
- />Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320 Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Sameeullah
- />Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Golkoy Campus, 14280 Bolu, Turkey
| | - Faheem Ahmed Khan
- />Molecular Biotechnology Laboratory for Triticeae Crops, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
| | - Tahira Syed
- />Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320 Pakistan
| | - Manzoor Ilahi
- />Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320 Pakistan
| | | | - Andreas Günter Lössl
- />Department of Applied Plant Sciences and Plant Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Konrad Lorenz Straße 24, 3430 Tulln an der Donau, Austria
- />AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Donau-City-Straße 1, 1220 Vienna, Austria
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Abstract
The ICI 2013 Mucosal Vaccine Workshop presentations covered a wide range of topics, these mainly fell into three categories: (i) Understanding the interactions of host and microbes, specifically commensal pathogens and improving the antigen uptake via the (microfold cells) M cells to induce effective IgA antibody immunity at the gut mucosa; (ii) effective plant-based vaccines and (iii) development of prophylactic and therapeutic mucosal-based vaccine strategies for virus infections such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), influenza and human papillomavirus (HPV) associated head and neck cancers. How to improve the efficacy of oral vaccines, novel intranasal mucosal adjuvants and a unique intra-cheek delivery method were also discussed. Presenters emphasized the differences associated with systemic and mucosal vaccination, specifically, how mucosal vaccines unlike systemic delivery can induce effective immunity at the first line of defence. Collectively, the workshop provided insights into recent developments in the mucosal vaccine research field, highlighting the complexities associated with designing safe and effective mucosal vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charani Ranasinghe
- Molecular Mucosal Vaccine Immunology Group, Department of Immunology, The John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia.
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