Evaluation of the immunostimulatory properties of plant HSP90 to use as a novel adjuvant carriers

CORIGLIANO, MARIANA G; GOLDMAN, ALEJANDRA; LAGUÍA BECHER, MELINA; MAGLIOCO, ANDREA; CLEMENTE, MARINA

Puerto Madryn. Chubut

Congreso; 46th Annual Meeting. Argentine Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Research; 2010

In general terms, the production of high amounts of antigen in plant is hard, having to develop different strategies to increase their expression. An interesting option is to express the polypeptide of interest in the plant with a carrier that could provide stability and therefore increase the polypeptide production. We consider that plant Hsp90 could be such a carrier. In addition, if plant Hsp90 presents adjuvant properties, it could arise as a novel and interesting carrier for proteins or peptides with immumoprotective value, improving the immunogenicity property of the transgenic plant extract. We have previously demonstrated that recombinant plant Hsp90 proteins (rpHsp90) induced prominent proliferative responses in spleen cells form BALB/c mice. Here, it was found that in vitro incubation of spleen cells with rpHsp90 leads to the expansion of CD19-bearing populations, suggesting a direct effect of these proteins on B lymphocytes. Furthermore, we examined the involvement of TLR4 in the rpHsp90s induction of B cell proliferation. Spleen cells of C3H/HeJ mice, which are hyporesponsive to LPS, also responded poorly to rpHsp90 indicating that rpHsp90 B-cell mitogenic properties are through the TLR4 receptor. The immunostimulatory properties of rpHsp90 observed here support the idea that these proteins could be excellent carriers for antigens and peptides expressed in plant.