Recombinant pharmaceuticals from plants: the plant endomembrane system as bioreactor.
The production of safe pharmaceuticals at affordable costs is one of the great challenges of our times. Research has proven that transgenic plants can fulfill this need. This review focuses on the peculiar features of plant cells that allow high accumulation of recombinant proteins. The endomembrane system and the secretory pathway of plant cells in themselves offer a fascinating model of protein sorting, and in practical terms, represent the potential for the facile and very low-cost purification of recombinant pharmaceutical proteins.
Vitale
Alessandro
A
Istituto di Biologia e Biotecnologia Agraria, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, via Bassini 15, 20133 Milan, Italy. vitale@ibba.cnr.it
Pedrazzini
Emanuela
E
D000818:Animals; D019149:Bioreactors; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods; D004721:Endoplasmic Reticulum / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006801:Humans; D059828:Plant Cells; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010944:Plants / Q000378:metabolism; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014617:Vacuoles / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure
D010940:Plant Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins