Production of recombinant HIV-1/HBV virus-like particles in Nicotiana tabacum and Arabidopsis thaliana plants for a bivalent plant-based vaccine.

Raffaella Greco (1) , Marie Michel (2) , Denise Guetard (2) , Minerva Cervantes-Gonzalez (2) , Nilla Pelucchi (1) , Simon Wain-Hobson (2) , Francesco Sala (1) , Monica Sala (2)

1 Department of Biology
2 Département de Virologie - Department of Virology

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) spread via similar transmission pathways, and infection by HBV occurs in up to 32% of HIV-1 cases. Here, we describe the successful expression of novel recombinant HIV-1/HBV virus-like particles (VLPs) in Nicotiana tabacum and Arabidopsis thaliana. The production levels and quality of the recombinant VLPs were comparable in the two plants, showing that parameters intrinsic to the recombinant proteins determined their assembly into VLPs. These heterologous VLPs can be used in a bivalent anti-HIV-1/-HBV vaccine, administrated via ingestion of transgenic plants.

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Microbiology and Parasitology

Raffaella Greco, Marie Michel, Denise Guetard, Minerva Cervantes-Gonzalez, Nilla Pelucchi, et al.. Production of recombinant HIV-1/HBV virus-like particles in Nicotiana tabacum and Arabidopsis thaliana plants for a bivalent plant-based vaccine.. Vaccine, 2007, 25 (49), pp.8228-40. ⟨10.1016/j.vaccine.2007.09.061⟩. ⟨pasteur-00363393⟩