Mechanisms
Plant-produced chimeric protein targeting ApoB100 and CETP epitopes elicits antibody responses in mice (Mol Biotechnol 2014)
Original title: Production of a plant-derived immunogenic protein targeting ApoB100 and CETP: toward a plant-based atherosclerosis vaccine
Toward a plant-based atherosclerosis vaccine, researchers designed a chimeric protein fusing cholera toxin B subunit with epitopes from ApoB100 and CETP, called CTB:p210:CETPe, and expressed it in tobacco plants using a synthetic gene with no phenotypic alterations to the plants. The plant-derived protein assembled correctly into its pentameric form and retained its target antigenic determinants, as confirmed by GM1-ELISA and Western blot. High-expressing plant lines accumulated up to 10 ug/g fresh leaf weight and carried a single transgene insertion. When administered subcutaneously to mice, biomass from these plants elicited antibody responses against both ApoB100 and CETP epitopes as well as human serum proteins, the first demonstration that atherosclerosis-related epitopes can be expressed in plants while retaining immunogenicity.
Original abstract
In an effort to initiate the development of a plant-based vaccination model against atherosclerosis, a cholera toxin B subunit (CTB)-based chimeric protein was designed to target both ApoB100 and CETP epitopes associated with immunotherapeutic effects in atherosclerosis. Epitopes were fused at the C-terminus of CTB to yield a protein called CTB:p210:CETPe. A synthetic gene coding for CTB:p210:CETPe was successfully transferred to tobacco plants with no phenotypic alterations. Plant-derived CTB:p210:CETPe was expressed and assembled in the pentameric form. This protein retained the target antigenic determinants, as revealed by GM1-ELISA and Western blot analyses. Higher expresser lines reached recombinant protein accumulation levels up to 10 µg/g fresh weight in leaf tissues and these lines carry a single insertion of the transgene as determined by qPCR. Moreover, when subcutaneously administered, the biomass from these CTB:p210:CETPe-producing plants was able to elicit humoral responses in mice against both ApoB100 and CETP epitopes and human serum proteins. These findings evidenced for the first time that atherosclerosis-related epitopes can be expressed in plants retaining immunogenicity, which opens a new path in the molecular farming field for the development of vaccines against atherosclerosis.
Summary written by cetpinhibition.org from the published abstract; figures as published. Page updated 18 August 2026. Methods.