title: Hydrophobin fusion of an influenza virus hemagglutinin allows high transient expression in Nicotiana benthamiana, easy purification and immune response with neutralizing activity.
abstract: The expression of recombinant hemagglutinin in plants is a promising alternative to the current egg-based production system for the influenza vaccines. Protein-stabilizing fusion partners have been developed to overcome the low production yields and the high downstream process costs associated with the plant expression system. In this context, we tested the fusion of hydrophobin I to the hemagglutinin ectodomain of the influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 virus controlled by the hybrid En2PMA4 transcriptional promoter to rapidly produce high levels of recombinant antigen by transient expression in agro-infiltrated Nicotiana benthamiana leaves. The fusion increased the expression level by a factor of ∼ 2.5 compared to the unfused protein allowing a high accumulation level of 8.6% of the total soluble proteins. Hemagglutinin was located in ER-derived protein bodies and was successfully purified by combining an aqueous-two phase partition system and a salting out step. Hydrophobin interactions allowed the formation of high molecular weight hemagglutinin structures, while unfused proteins were produced as monomers. Purified protein was shown to be biologically active and to induce neutralizing antibodies after mice immunization. Hydrophobin fusion to influenza hemagglutinin might therefore be a promising approach for rapid, easy, and low cost production of seasonal or pandemic influenza vaccines in plants.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Life Sciences, University of Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jacquet
authors.affiliation: Institute of Life Sciences, University of Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Navarre
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Desmecht
authors.affiliation: Institute of Life Sciences, University of Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boutry
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D005658:Fungi / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D019267:Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D053118:Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D007252:Influenza Vaccines / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control; D051379:Mice; D009976:Orthomyxoviridae Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000235:genetics; D014611:Vaccination
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D019267:Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus; D007252:Influenza Vaccines; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins