Pro- and anti-apoptotic fate decisions induced by di- and trimeric synthetic cytokine receptors.

Synthetic strategies to activate cytokine receptors so far only address standard dimeric cytokine receptor assemblies. The 19 ligands of the tumor necrosis factor superfamily (TNFSF), however, form noncovalent trimers and receptor trimerization is considered to be essential for receptor activation. Synthetic TNFR1, TNFR2, and Fas/CD95 receptors were activated by synthetic trimeric ligands which induced NF-κB signaling or Caspase-induced apoptosis.

Expression and immunogenicity of the mycobacterial Ag85B/ESAT-6 antigens produced in transgenic plants by elastin-like peptide fusion strategy.

This study explored a novel system combining plant-based production and the elastin-like peptide (ELP) fusion strategy to produce vaccinal antigens against tuberculosis. Transgenic tobacco plants expressing the mycobacterial antigens Ag85B and ESAT-6 fused to ELP (TBAg-ELP) were generated. Purified TBAg-ELP was obtained by the highly efficient, cost-effective, inverse transition cycling (ICT) method and tested in mice.

Production of vaccines and therapeutic antibodies for veterinary applications in transgenic plants: an overview.

During the past two decades, antibodies, antibody derivatives and vaccines have been developed for therapeutic and diagnostic applications in human and veterinary medicine. Numerous species of dicot and monocot plants have been genetically modified to produce antibodies or vaccines, and a number of diverse transformation methods and strategies to enhance the accumulation of the pharmaceutical proteins are now available. Veterinary applications are the specific focus of this article, in particular for pathogenic viruses, bacteria and eukaryotic parasites.