Nutriceuticals
Plant-based production of pharmaceutical proteins
Rice plantlets regenerated from callus through tissue culture.
Plant systems offer numerous advantages for the production of recombinant proteins with potential medical applications. These include proper post-translational processing, safety issues, ease of transformation and propagation, economic scale-up, and use of existing agricultural infrastructure.
Our lab is collaborating with researchers at UAMS, Little Rock, to explore the possibility of producing large quantities of recombinant proteins in plants. We are currently focusing on several proteins, some human and some viral, that have been determined to be associated with either cervical or ovarian cancer. These proteins could have potential uses as vaccines, direct therapy, or development of means of early detection.
We are utilizing seed-specific promoters to target seeds as the site of synthesis and accumulation. We are assessing two targeting strategies, an oleosin-fusion approach and a protein storage vacuole (PSV) approach. We have successfully produced several proteins using the oleosin-fusion system in a Brassica species. We are presently developing a PSV system for both rice and cowpea.
Enhancing the nutraceutical health benefits of horticultural crops
A greenhouse crop of transgenic Brassica sp. producing pharmaceutical proteins in the seeds.
An increasing body of scientific evidence indicates that plants provide important phytochemicals that have critical health benefits beyond simple nutrition. These compounds have been implicated in preventing/ameliorating a vast array of diseases and health problems, including various cancers, heart disease, and many aging-related problems, including macular degeneration. Most of these compounds have antioxidative properties, but many also appear to have direct or indirect effects on gene expression.
Our lab is focusing primarily on two crops, spinach and cowpea, both of which are known for their high nutritional value. Spinach has been found to be extremely high in carotenoids, especially lutein, which is associated with the prevention of macular degeneration. We are currently assessing genotypic variation as well as genotype x phenotype interactions in determining carotenoid levels. We are also interested in isoflavones, which are associated with the health properties of soy products and occur there at high levels. Cowpea produces only trace amounts of isoflavones. We are investigating the possibility of metabolic engineering of cowpea to enhance the synthesis of isoflavones.