1st Edition

Biopharmaceuticals in Plants Toward the Next Century of Medicine

By Kathleen Laura Hefferon Copyright 2010
    228 Pages 4 Color & 22 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    228 Pages 4 Color & 22 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    Transgenic plants present enormous potential to become one of the most cost-effective and safe systems for large-scale production of proteins for industrial, pharmaceutical, veterinary, and agricultural uses. Over the past decade, much progress has been made with respect to the development of vaccines, antibodies, and other therapeutic proteins. Biopharmaceuticals in Plants: Toward the Next Century of Medicine provides a comprehensive survey of all major aspects of the development and production of plant-made biopharmaceuticals.

    Accompanied by an exhaustive list of references to facilitate further study, this critical volume:

    • Describes the theory and practice of modern plant transformation techniques with respect to nuclear and plastic genomes
    • Outlines the steps involved in the generation of transgenic plants
    • Discusses the engineering of plant virus expression vectors for transient expression of vaccine proteins and other therapeutics in plant tissue
    • Addresses the significant role of glycosylation in the production of plant-made mammalian proteins
    • Investigates the basis of mucosal immunity using plant-based oral vaccines
    • Examines the scale-up of plant-derived vaccine and therapeutic proteins in entire crops or in large batch cell suspension cultures
    • Explores the development of clinical trials utilizing plant-derived biopharmaceutical proteins
    • Evaluates risks and biosafety concerns regarding plant-derived pharmaceuticals

    The book concludes with a discussion of the future of plant-based vaccines and other therapeutic proteins with respect to commercial viability and as a tool to improve global public health. Far-reaching in its scope, this text is a baseline reference that students and researchers in a broad range of fields such as medicine, plant science, biotechnology, crop science, natural products chemistry, and engineering will consult regularly. It will also serve as a useful tool for individuals and companies seeking to invest in this dynamic area.

    History of Plants in Production of Biopharmaceuticals

    History of Vaccine Development

    History of Vaccine Proteins Produced in Plants

    Transformation of Plant Tissue

    Agrobacterium tumefaciens-Mediated Plant Transformation

    Other Transformation Techniques

    Problems Associated with Transformation Techniques

    Transformation of Cereals

    Hairy Root Transformation

    Selectable Marker Genes

    Regulation of Transgene Expression

    Transgenic Plants Expressing Vaccine and Therapeutic Proteins

    Transgenic Plants Expressing Vaccines against Diarrheal Diseases

    Animal Vaccines Produced in Plants

    The Use of Antibodies in Plants as Immunotherapeutic Agents

    Other Biopharmaceuticals and Therapeutic Agents Produced in Plants

    Enhancement of Plants for Nutritional or Medicinal Purposes (Nutriceuticals)

    Chloroplast Engineering and Production of Biopharmaceuticals

    Differences between Nuclear and Plastid Transformations

    Plastid Transformation

    History of Plastid Transformation and Biotechnological Applications

    Vaccines and Therapeutic Proteins Produced in Chloroplasts

    Plant Viral Expression Vectors and Production of Biopharmaceuticals in Plants

    Plant RNA and DNA Virus Expression Systems

    Glycosylation of Therapeutic Proteins in Plants

    N-Glycosylation

    Differences in N-Glycosylation Patterns between Plants and Mammals

    Plant-Made Pharmaceuticals and Plant Allergens

    Strategies to Humanize Recombinant Proteins in Plants

    O-Glycosylation

    Sialic Acid in Plants

    Glycosylation of Immunoglobulins Produced in Plants

    Other Therapeutic Proteins

    Scale-Up of Plant-Derived Biopharmaceuticals: Prospects for Commercial Production and for Global Health

    Plant-Made Biopharmaceuticals on the Market

    Scale-Up and Production of Biopharmaceuticals in Plants

    Application of Virus Expression Vectors for Large-Scale Field Trials

    Production of Biopharmaceuticals in Plant Suspension Cells

    Comparison of Cell Culture over Whole Plants for Biopharmaceutical Production

    Other Expression Systems for Large-Scale Production of Biopharmaceuticals

    Downstream Processing of Plant-Derived Biopharmaceuticals

    Driving Forces behind Plant-Made Biopharmaceuticals: The General Market Environment

    The Immune Response to Plant-Derived Pharmaceuticals

    The Immune System in General

    T Cells

    B Cells

    Antibodies and the Immune Response

    The Concept of Vaccination and Immune Imprinting

    Organization of the Mucosal Immune System

    Secretory IgA and the Mucosal Epithelium

    Mucosal Immune Response of the Respiratory Tract

    Oral Tolerance

    Preclinical and Clinical Trials Involving Plant-Derived Vaccines

    Diarrheal Diseases

    Hepatitis B Virus (HBV)

    Rabies Virus

    Human Papillomavirus (HPV)

    Anthrax

    Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)

    Measles Virus

    Influenza Virus

    Swine-Transmissible Gastroenteritis Virus

    Canine Parvovirus

    Oral Tolerance to Antigens

    Risk Analysis and Safety of Plant-Made Biopharmaceuticals

    Risk Analysis and Plant-Based Biopharmaceuticals

    Regulation of Plant-Made Biopharmaceuticals

    Quality Control and the Manufacturing of the Product

    Impact of Plant-Made Biopharmaceuticals on Human Health

    Impact of Plant-Made Biopharmaceuticals on the Environment

    Avoiding Transgene Silencing

    Epilogue: The Future

    The Current State of Plant-Made Biopharmaceuticals

    Index

    Biography

    Kathleen Laura Hefferon achieved her Ph.D. at the University of Toronto. She most recently held the title of Director of Operations of the Human Metabolic Research Unit in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University. She also acts as a science writer for the Center for Hepatitis C Research at Rockefeller University in New York City and as an expert selector for the Infection and Immunity Division of the Medical Research Council, in London.

    "This book serves as an excellent introduction to biopharmaceuticals and as a source of references for those wanting more details."
    —Monique S.]. Simmonds, in The Journal of Experimental Agriculture, 2011, volume 47 (I)

    "Today, molecular farming represents an extremely heterogeneous field, due to the large variety of different production hosts examined and further complications derived from the different cultivation systems employed. ...the book provides a comprehensive overview of the different approaches taken over the last 20 years since the first heterologous expression of a monoclonal antibody in tobacco."
    —Dr. Stefan Jennewein, Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology, in ChemMedChem, 2010.