Plants engineered to produce therapeutic peptides could provide a cost-effective and sustainable platform for manufacturing drugs.<\/p>\n
As a proof of concept, researchers have coaxed a close relative of tobacco,Nicotiana benthamiana, to churn out peptides with antibiotic activity against some of the nastiest pathogens known to medicine, as others had done in the past[1].<\/p>\n
But, unlike previous efforts to turn plants into drug-production bioreactors, the scientists also modified their shrubs to express a rat enzyme, called PAM, that enhances the stability and prolongs the activity of antimicrobial peptides.<\/p>\n
The resulting plants yielded potent drugs that should cost far less to manufacture than those made via other systems with the added benefit of offering a more environmentally friendly route to drug assembly.<\/p>\n
These plants can be grown on a massive scale, providing a reliable and cost-effective source of medicines for people around the world, says bioengineering professor Magdy Mahfouz, who led the study.<\/p>\n
We now intend to use this technology to produce a wide range of biologics and therapeutics, adds Shahid Chaudhary, a Ph.D. student in Mahfouzs lab group and the first author of the new report.<\/p>\n
The KAUST research team, which included bioengineers Charlotte Hauser and Samir Hamdan, along with microbiologist Pei-Ying Hong and collaborators from Canada, showed that antimicrobial peptides made in this way could kill several dangerous pathogens, including multiple drug-resistant superbugs responsible for some of the deadliest hospital-acquired infections. The antibiotics also proved harmless to mammalian cells, suggesting that they should be safe for human consumption.<\/p>\n
Thinking ahead to eventual deployment of the biopharming technique on a massive scale, the researchers showed that their plants were about 3.5-times more efficient at making antibiotics than comparable plants that lack the PAM enzyme modification.<\/p>\n
They also added up all the expenses of drug manufacturing and calculated that they could produce 10 milligrams of clinical-grade antimicrobial peptides for less than $0.74 USD much less than the ~$1000 USD cost of production in commercial companies that chemically synthesize peptides and well below the cost of manufacturing in mammalian cells.<\/p>\n
Moreover, plant-based drug manufacturing generates none of the hazardous waste associated with other production platforms, thus making it a much greener option for the pharmaceutical industry.<\/p>\n
Mahfouz and his colleagues next plan to make other types of therapeutics in the same way.<\/p>\n
Large-scale industrial production of therapeutic molecules in plants represents a significant step forward in the democratization of medicine, Mahfouz says. By harnessing the power of molecular biomanufacturing, we can now produce high-quality clinical-grade therapeutics at a fraction of the cost of traditional manufacturing methods.<\/p>\n
Nature Communications<\/p>\n
Efficient in planta production of amidated antimicrobial peptides that are active against drug-resistant ESKAPE pathogens<\/p>\n
16-Mar-2023<\/p>\n
Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.<\/p>\n
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Go here to see the original: Plants engineered to produce therapeutic peptides could provide a cost-effective and sustainable platform for manufacturing drugs. As a proof of concept, researchers have coaxed a close relative of tobacco,Nicotiana benthamiana, to churn out peptides with antibiotic activity against some of the nastiest pathogens known to medicine, as others had done in the past[1]. But, unlike previous efforts to turn plants into drug-production bioreactors, the scientists also modified their shrubs to express a rat enzyme, called PAM, that enhances the stability and prolongs the activity of antimicrobial peptides. Continue reading
\nUsing plants as factories for green drug production - EurekAlert<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"