Expression of avian influenza haemagglutinin (H5) and chicken interleukin 2 (chIL-2) under control of the ptcB promoter in Lactococcus lactis.

Katarzyna Szatraj; Agnieszka K Szczepankowska; Violetta Sączyńska; Katarzyna Florys; Beata Gromadzka; Krzysztof Łepek; Grażyna Płucienniczak; Bogusław Szewczyk; Włodzimierz Zagórski-Ostoja; Jacek Bardowski

doi:10.18388/abp.2014_1884

Katarzyna Szatraj Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.;
Agnieszka K Szczepankowska Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.;
Violetta Sączyńska Institute of Biotechnology and Antibiotics, Department of Bioengineering, Warsaw, Poland.;
Katarzyna Florys Institute of Biotechnology and Antibiotics, Department of Bioengineering, Warsaw, Poland.;
Beata Gromadzka University of Gdansk and Medical University of Gdańsk, Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology, Department of Recombinant Vaccines, Gdańsk, Poland.;
Krzysztof Łepek University of Gdansk and Medical University of Gdańsk, Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology, Department of Recombinant Vaccines, Gdańsk, Poland.;
Grażyna Płucienniczak Institute of Biotechnology and Antibiotics, Department of Bioengineering, Warsaw, Poland.;
Bogusław Szewczyk University of Gdańsk, Institute of Biotechnology, Department of Molecular Virology, Gdańsk, Poland.;
Włodzimierz Zagórski-Ostoja Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.;
Jacek Bardowski Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.;

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18388/abp.2014_1884

Abstract

Gram-positive and nonpathogenic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are considered to be promising candidates for the development of new, safe systems of heterologous protein expression. Recombinant LAB has been shown to induce specific local and systemic immune response against selected pathogens, and could be a good alternative to classical attenuated carriers. The main goal of our study was to express the avian influenza haemagglutinin (H5) and chicken interleukin 2 (chIL-2) in Lactococcus lactis. Results of this study were anticipated to lead to construction of lactococcal strain(s) with potential vaccine properties against the avian influenza A (H5N1) virus. Expression of the cloned H5 gene, its His-tagged variant and chIL-2 gene, under the control of the ptcB gene promoter was attested by RT-PCR on transcriptional level and Western or dot blot analysis on translational level, demonstrating that system can be an attractive solution for production of heterologous proteins. The results of the preliminary animal trial conducted in mice are a promising step toward development of a vaccine against avian bird flu using Lactococcus lactis cells as antigen carriers.