Campus Units

Agronomy, Genetics

Document Type

Article

Publication Version

Published Version

Publication Date

9-2003

Journal or Book Title

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Volume

100

Issue

19

First Page

11127

Last Page

11132

DOI

10.1073/pnas.1836901100

Abstract

TThe B subunit of Escherichia coli heat labile enterotoxin (LT-B) is a potent oral immunogen with potential for use as a vaccine, a carrier molecule to deliver antigens to gut-associated lymphoid tissues, and possibly an adjuvant to make coadministered vaccines more effective. LT-B produced in plants was shown to be functional and immunogenic in animals and humans. In this work, we show that maize-derived LT-B is strongly associated with starch granules in endosperm. Using immunogold labeling/electron microscopy, cell fractionation, and protein analysis techniques, we observed that LT-B protein could be detected both internally and externally in starch granules. This strong association confers an effective copurification of the antigen with the starch fraction of maize kernels, thermostability desirable in maize processing, and resistance to peptic degradation in simulated gastric fluid digests, an important attribute for an orally delivered antigen.

Comments

This article is from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 100 (2003): 11127, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1836901100.

Rights

Works produced by employees of the U.S. Government as part of their official duties are not copyrighted within the U.S. The content of this document is not copyrighted.

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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