title: Expression of functional interleukin-12 from mouse in transgenic tomato plants.
abstract: Transgenic plants have been employed successfully as a low-cost system for the production of therapeutically valuable proteins, including antibodies, antigens and hormones. Here, we report the expression of a cytokine with immunomodulatory function, mouse interleukin-12 (IL-12), in transgenic tomato plants. Single-chain mouse IL-12 driven by the CaMV 35S promoter, accumulates to high levels in leaves and fruits (up to 7.3 and 3.4 microg per gram of fresh weight, respectively). Mouse IL-12 expressed in tomato displays biological activity in vitro, as determined by interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) secretion by T cells. Possible uses of this plant-based cytokine involving mucosal delivery are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ingeniería Genética de Plantas, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN, Unidad Irapuato. Km 9.6 Libramiento Norte Carretera Irapuato-León, Guanajuato, México.
authors.forename: Abel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gutiérrez-Ortega
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sandoval-Montes
authors.forename: Teresa Jesús
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: de Olivera-Flores
authors.forename: Leopoldo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Santos-Argumedo
authors.forename: Miguel Angel
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Gómez-Lim
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000502:physiology*; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000096:biosynthesis; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000235:genetics*; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000378:metabolism*; D015202:Protein Engineering / Q000379:methods; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D019076:Transgenes / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D018664:Interleukin-12; D007371:Interferon-gamma