Hormone-medicated improvement of recombinant protein yields in plants

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The use of plants as bio-factories for the production of clinically useful recombinant proteins has been bolstered in recent years by the approval of a first plant-made biopharmaceutical for human therapy, the demonstrated feasibility of readily producing therapeutic antibodies in plants during the recent Ebola virus outbreak, and the ever increasing number of plant-made proteins undergoing Phase I or Phase II clinical trials. The goal of this project is to modulate the hormonal metabolism of Nicotiana benthamiana, a promising expression platform, in such a way as to boost recombinant protein yields while downregulating naturally abundant protein contaminants in leaves. Experiments will be conducted to evaluate the potential of exogenous hormone treatments, using a number of natural and synthetic chemicals applied in commercial production setups to control plant growth and development. Experiments will be conducted in parallel with hormone-inducing "accessory transgenes" to assess the feasibility of genetically reproducing the effects of chemical treatments. These new ways of enhancing recombinant protein yield in plants will be tested with different proteins of medical interest, including a regulatory protein used to control blood coagulation during cardiac surgeries, a model glycoprotein involved in immune and inflammatory diseases, and a viral antigen for the production of flu vaccines.