Seed- and leaf-based expression of FGF21-transferrin fusion proteins for oral delivery and treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.

ABSTRACT: Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a global disease with no effective medication. The fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) can reverse this liver dysfunction, but requires targeted delivery to the liver, which can be achieved via oral administration. Therefore, we fused FGF21 to transferrin (Tf) via a furin cleavage site (F), to promote uptake from the intestine into the portal vein, yielding FGF21-F-Tf, and established its production in both seeds and leaves of commercial Nicotiana tabacum cultivars, compared their expression profile and tested the bioavailability and bioactivity in feeding studies. Since biopharmaceuticals need to be produced in a contained environment, e.g., greenhouses in case of plants, the seed production was increased in this setting from 23

SUBMITTER: Hou HW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9557105 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature