Plant-Based Vaccine Antigens Against Toxoplasmosis

CLEMENTE, MARINA

Genetically Engineered Plants as a Source of Vaccines Against Wide spread Diseases

Springer

Lugar: New York; Año: 2014; p. 215 - 242

Toxoplasmosis is a disease caused by the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. This parasite is transmitted by ingestion of cysts found in the tissues of infected animals or by ingestion of food or water contaminated with oocysts released in the feces of infected cats. T. gondii is able to infect all warm-blooded animals, including humans. Vaccination against T. gondii is the most efficient and safe method to prevent this infectious disease. Since the portal of entry of T. gondii is the mucosa, an efficient stimulation of the mucosa and an adequate systemic response constitute a priority which could be accomplished by the administration of an oral or nasal vaccine. In this context, plant-based expression systems represent an interesting production platform for oral vaccine development due to their reduced manufacturing costs and high scalability. However, the heterologous expression of parasitic antigens in plants has been poorly explored. Despite the lack of interest aroused by the proteins derived from parasites to be expressed in plants, the results shown in the present chapter are auspicious. The antigens of T. gondii in plants orally administered in low doses and without the use of adjuvants have been shown to be able to induce a protective immuneresponse. In fact, the degree of protection observed is similar to that reported by other authors who assayed these proteins as recombinant proteins or DNA vaccines in combination with adjuvants. Both GRA4 and SAG1 expressed in plants are good candidates for the development of a multi-antigenic vaccine against Toxoplasma. In summary, the expression of T. gondii antigens in plants is a realistic strategy to develop an anti-T. gondii vaccine. The joint expression of SAG1 and GRA4 in plants may provide an excellent opportunity to explore the application of an oral vaccine against toxoplasmosis based on edible plant tissues. http://www.springer.com/life+sciences/plant+sciences/book/978-1-4939-0849-3