Mempro™ Tobacco-Derived VLP Production Using Transient Expression System

Creative Biostructure provides advanced and tailored Mempro™ tobacco-derived virus-like particels (VLPs) prodution services based on transient expression system for various researches, including:

• Integral membrane protein production
• Vaccines development and production
• Antibody development
• Small molecules delivery
• Ligand binding assay
• Phage and yeast display

Tobacco (Nicotiana benthamiana) is the most commonly employed host in the production of recombinant proteins as well as VLPs. The characteristics of N. benthamiana is susceptible to a large variety of plant-pathogenic agents, such as plant viruses, bacteria, oomycetes, fungi, etc. It is well studied that the leaves of N. benthamiana are suitable for the rapid incorporation of foreign genes required to produce high-yield VLPs in a non-permanent manner. Additionally, transient expression system is an Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated (agroinfiltration) procedure, which is easy without leading to great damage to the plant tissue. These benefits from N. benthamianamake it a versatile host for VLP expression.

Figure 1. Tobacco-based agroinfiltration is used for a variety of applicaions. (Mol. Plant Microbe Interact, 2008)

Other advantages of tobacco-based VLP production are the tobacco cultivation, scale-up and maintenance costs are relatively low. Furthermore, N. benthamiana are fully grown plants in greenhouses, no potentially time-consuming crop cultivation processes are necessary.

VLPs are self-assembled multi-protein structures derived from viral antigens that can simulate native viruses, but are non-infetious owing to lacking the viral genetic materials. It is reported that intact membrane proteins with native conformation can be integrated in to VLPs (this complex is termed lipoparticles). Thus, Lipoparticles are widely used as a powerful tool for integral membrane protein poduction. Self-assembled VLPs capture desired membrane proteins and bud them off from the cell membrane in the direct manner.

Creative Biostructure can offer custom Mempro™ VLP production services for various biological studies, including antibody screening, phage and yeast display, vaccines production, ligand binding assay and small molecules delivery. Please feel free to contact us for a detailed quote.

References:
H. S. Mason and M. M. Herbst-Kralovetz (2012). Plant-derived antigens as mucosal vaccines. Curr. Top Microbiol. Immunol., 354: 101-120.
J. Marsian and G. P. Lomonossoff (2016). Molecular pharming - VLPs made in plants. Curr. Opion Biotech., 37: 201-206.
M. A. D'Aoust, et al. (2010). The production of hemagglutinin-based virus-like particles in plants: a rapid, efficient and safe response to pandemic influenza. Plant Biotechnol. J., 8(5): 607-619.
M. M. Goodin, et al. (2008). Nicotiana benthamiana: Its history and future as a model for plant–pathogen interactions. Mol. Plant Microbe Interact, 21(8): 1015-1026.