title: Human papillomavirus vaccines in plants.
abstract: Human papillomaviruses are the etiological agents of cervical cancer, one of the two most prevalent cancers in women in developing countries. Currently available prophylactic vaccines are based on the L1 major capsid protein, which forms virus-like particles when expressed in yeast and insect cell lines. Despite their recognized efficacy, there are significant shortcomings: the vaccines are expensive, include only two oncogenic virus types, are delivered via intramuscular injection and require a cold chain. Plant expression systems may provide ways of overcoming some of these problems, in particular the expense. In this article, we report recent promising advances in the production of prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines against human papillomavirus by expression of the relevant antigens in plants, and discuss future prospects for the use of such vaccines.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Department of Infectious, Parasitic and Immunomediated Diseases, Rome, Italy. colomba.giorgi@iss.it
authors.forename: Colomba
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Giorgi
authors.forename: Rosella
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Franconi
authors.forename: Edward P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Rybicki
mesh_terms: D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D013678:Technology, Pharmaceutical / Q000379:methods*; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic