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Perspectives

The potential of Physcomitrella patens as a platform for the production of plant-based vaccines

, , , &
Pages 203-212 | Published online: 03 Jan 2014
 

Abstract

The moss Physcomitrella patens has a number of advantages for the production of biopharmaceuticals, including: i) availability of standardized conditions for cultivation in bioreactors; ii) not being part of the food chain; iii) high biosafety; iv) availability of highly efficient transformation methods; v) a haploid, fully sequenced genome providing genetic stability and uniform expression; vi) efficient gene targeting at the nuclear level allows for the generation of mutants with specific post-translational modifications (e.g., glycosylation patterns); and vii) oral formulations are a viable approach as no toxic effects are attributed to ingestion of this moss. In the light of this panorama, this opinion paper analyzes the possibilities of using P. patens for the production of oral vaccines and presents some specific cases where its use may represent significant progress in the field of plant-based vaccine development. The advantages represented by putative adjuvant effects of endogenous secondary metabolites and producing specific glycosylation patterns are highlighted.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank native speaker AK Prowse for help with the manuscript.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst provided fellowships to S Rosales-Mendoza and L Orellana-Escobedo for performing research stays at R Reski laboratory, which aided in the generation of this review. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Key issues

  • The moss Physcomitrella patens is an advantageous system for the production of biopharmaceuticals in terms of biosafety, genetic stability and versatility of genetic engineering.

  • Oral vaccines produced in moss may represent a novel and convenient system for the formulation of low cost and orally administered vaccines.

  • Future research should focus on: studying the putative adjuvant effects of the secondary metabolites produced by this host and the development of glycoengineered strains for the production of optimized vaccines.

Notes

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