title: In vivo activity of plant-based interleukin-12 in the lung of Balb/c mouse.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In the last years, plants are being used for the production of a wide variety of biopharmaceuticals, including cytokines, and have the potential to serve as vehicles for mucosal administration of these molecules. We had previously reported the expression of a cytokine, interleukin-12 (IL-12), in transgenic tomato plants and had demonstrated that it retained its biologic activity in vitro.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this work, we administered crude extracts of IL-12-containing tomato fruits to mice through the intratracheal route, measuring endogenous IL-12 and determining biologic activity by quantification of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) in lungs and by histological analysis. IFN-gamma expression in lungs, as well as histological analysis, indicate that tomato-expressed IL-12 retains its biologic activity and, most importantly, its effects are restricted to the site of administration.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results indicate that the functional activity of tomato-expressed IL-12 is comparable to that of commercial recombinant IL-12 when given via the mucosal route. This opens the possibility of using crude extracts prepared from tomatoes expressing IL-12 for certain immunotherapies.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación y Asistencia en Tecnología y Diseño del Estado de Jalisco A,C,, Guadalajara, Jalisco, México. agutierrster@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Hernández
authors.forename: Abel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gutiérrez-Ortega
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Aguilar-León
authors.forename: Rogelio
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hernández-Pando
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gómez-Lim
authors.forename: Beatriz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gómez-García