Tobacco makes medicine
March 19, 2009Tobacco isn't famous for its health benefits. But now scientists have succeeded in using genetically modified tobacco plants to produce medicines for several autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, including diabetes. The research is published in the open access journal BMC Biotechnology.
A large team of scientists from several European research organizations have participated in the study as part of the Pharma-Planta project (http://www.pharma-planta.org/). Led by Professor Mario Pezzotti at the University of Verona, they set out to create transgenic tobacco plants that would produce biologically-active interleukin-10 (IL-10), a potent anti-inflammatory cytokine. They tried two different versions of IL-10 (one from a virus, one from the mouse) and generated plants in which this protein was targeted to three different compartments within the cell, to see which would work most effectively.
The researchers found that tobacco plants were able to process both forms of IL-10 correctly, producing the active cytokine at high enough levels that it might be possible to use tobacco leaves without lengthy extraction and purification processes. The next step will be to feed the plants to mice with autoimmune diseases to find out how effective they are.
The authors are keen to use the plants to see whether repeated small doses could help prevent type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), in combination with other auto-antigens associated with the disease. The team has a particular auto-antigen in its sights - the 65-kDa isoform of the enzyme glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD65) - which they have also produced in transgenic tobacco plants.
According to Pezzotti, "Transgenic plants are attractive systems for the production of therapeutic proteins because they offer the possibility of large scale production at low cost, and they have low maintenance requirements. The fact that they can be eaten, which delivers the drug where it is needed, thus avoiding lengthy purification procedures, is another plus compared with traditional drug synthesis."
More information: Viral and murine interleukin-10 are correctly processed and retain their biological activity when produced in tobacco, Luisa Bortesi, Marzia Rossato, Flora Schuster, Nicole Raven, Johannes Stadlmann, Linda Avesani, Alberto Falorni, Flavia Bazzoni, Ralph Bock, Stefan Schillberg and Mario Pezzotti; BMC Biotechnology (in press), http://www.biomedc … cbiotechnol/
-
Scientists grow insulin in tobacco plants
Jul 30, 2007 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Novel bioreactor enhances interleukin-12 production in genetically-modified tobacco plants
Dec 03, 2008 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Gene 'knockout' floors tobacco carcinogen
Mar 18, 2008 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Do plants have the potential to vaccinate against HIV?
Mar 13, 2006 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Tomorrow’s tobacco to save lives
Nov 14, 2005 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Engineers build first sub-10-nm carbon nanotube transistor
Feb 01, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (30) |
30
-
Something old, something new: Evolution and the structural divergence of duplicate genes
Jan 31, 2012 |
4.6 / 5 (7) |
1
-
The hidden nanoworld of ice crystals: Revealing the dynamic behavior of quasi-liquid layers
Jan 30, 2012 |
5 / 5 (3) |
1
-
Stock market network reveals investor clustering
Jan 27, 2012 |
3.9 / 5 (23) |
8
-
Of microchemistry and molecules: Electronic microfluidic device synthesizes biocompatible probes
Jan 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
-
Pertubance in a model
1 hour ago
-
Cancer drugs and Alzheimer's, Oh my!
9 hours ago
-
Squishing cells
10 hours ago
-
Any books/articles for evolutionary stable strategy models in humans?
21 hours ago
-
Science behind the bore feeling?
Feb 09, 2012
-
Homo Sapien vs. Chimpanzee - Divergence Timeline
Feb 09, 2012
- More from Physics Forums - Biology
More news stories
An eye for the tsetse fly
(PhysOrg.com) -- Geoffrey M. Attardo was one of those little boys who made pets of the spiders outside his bedroom window, feeding them and watching as they spun intricate webs. Age has not diminished his ...
45 minutes ago |
not rated yet |
0
Cure of ADPKD by selection for spontaneous genetic repair events in Pkd1-mutated iPS cells
A research group including Kyoto University researchers demonstrates that mouse iPS cells, in which genetic correction occurs spontaneously through mitotic recombination, is selectable from the population of genetically mutated ...
40 minutes ago |
not rated yet |
0
Miami battling invasion of giant African snails
No one knows how they got there. But an invasion of African giant snails has southern Florida in a panic over potential crop damage, disease and general yuckiness surrounding the slimy gastropods.
3 hours ago |
not rated yet |
1
Protein libraries in a snap
(PhysOrg.com) -- A Rice University undergraduate will depart with not only a degree but also a possible patent for his invention of an efficient way to create protein libraries, an important component of biomolecular ...
2 hours ago |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
|
Fighting crimes against biodiversity: How to catch a killer weed
Invasive species which have the potential to destroy biodiversity and influence global change could be tracked and controlled in the same way as wanted criminals, according to new research from Queen Mary, University of London.
4 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
A frank discussion of the power law and linking correlation to causation
(PhysOrg.com) -- Michael Stumpf a mathematics professor at Imperial College in London, and Mason Porter a lecturer at Oxford have teamed together to write and publish a perspective piece in Science regarding the in ...
Mars Science Laboratory computer issue resolved
(PhysOrg.com) -- Engineers have found the root cause of a computer reset that occurred two months ago on NASA's Mars Science Laboratory and have determined how to correct it.
Advanced power-grid model finds low-cost, low-carbon future in West
(PhysOrg.com) -- The least expensive way for the Western U.S. to reduce greenhouse gas emissions enough to help prevent the worst consequences of global warming is to replace coal with renewable and other ...
Small modular reactor design could be a 'SUPERSTAR'
(PhysOrg.com) -- Though most of today's nuclear reactors are cooled by water, we've long known that there are alternatives; in fact, the world's first nuclear-powered electricity in 1951 came from a reactor ...
Clam fields found at deep, low-temperature Mariana vents
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have marveled at the unusual life forms thriving at high temperature hydrothermal vents of the deep ocean.
Seeing colors in music, tasting flavors in shapes may happen in life's early months
Famed violinist Itzhak Perlman sees a deep forest green whenever he plays a B-flat on his Stradivarius' G string. The A on the E string is red.