title: Biologically active human GM-CSF produced in the seeds of transgenic rice plants.
abstract: Rice flour is a well-known and characterized source of pharmaceutical ingredients, which are gluten-free and incorporated in many drug delivery applications such as excipient starch. To further exploit this uniqueness, the synthetic capacity of rice endosperm tissue, the basis of rice flour, was extended by genetic transformation. Recombinant human GM-CSF, a cytokine used in treating neutropenia and with other potential clinical applications, has been expressed in transgenic rice seeds using a rice glutelin promoter. Rice seeds accumulated human GM-CSF to a level of 1.3% of total soluble protein. The rice seed-produced human GM-CSF was found to be biologically active when tested using a human cell line TF-1. Use of rice as a host plant offers not only attractive features of safe production in seeds but also self-containment of foreign genes, as rice is primarily a self-pollinated crop plant.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology & Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, 451 Smyth Road, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1H 8M5.
authors.forename: Ravinder
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sardana
authors.forename: Anil K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Dudani
authors.forename: Eilleen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tackaberry
authors.forename: Zaman
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Alli
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Porter
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rowlandson
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ganz
authors.forename: Illimar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Altosaar
mesh_terms: D002460:Cell Line; D005983:Glutens / Q000235:genetics; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012231:Rhizobium; D012639:Seeds / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D005983:Glutens; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor