Scientists Use Biofactories for Production of Diabetes Autoantigen

The human glutamic acid decarboxylase (hGAD65) is a major diabetes autoantigen that can be used for the diagnosis and treatment of autoimmune diabetes. A study revealed that an inactive version of hGAD65, known as hGAD65mut, accumulated to tenfold higher levels than the active counterpart in transgenic tobacco plants, providing a safe and less expensive source of the protein compared to mammalian production platforms. A new study conducted by Linda Avesani of the University of Verona, Italy and colleagues revealed that hGAD65mut is also produced at higher levels in Nicotiana benthamiana, a close relative of tobacco. Among the plant-based and baculo-virus-based platforms used, MagICON system was found  to generate the largest amount of protein in a few days.

The transgenic system was found to be the most productive and cost-effective although the breeding process took 3 years to complete. Plant-based systems were therefore advantageous over the baculovirus-based production platform used in the study.

Read the abstract at http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11248-013-9749-9.