Expression of synthetic neutralizing epitope of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus fused with synthetic B subunit of Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin in tobacco plants

The pentameric B subunit of Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin (LTB) can be used as an efficient mucosal carrier of either immunogenic or tolerogenic T-cell epitopes. Co-delivery of therapeutic proteins with carrier proteins could increase the effectiveness of the antigen. This paper reports the ability of transgenic tobacco plants to express a fusion protein consisting of the synthetic LTB and a synthetic neutralizing epitope of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), causing an enteric disease that is especially severe in piglets. Both components of the fusion proteins were detected in Western blot analysis, and binding assay confirmed that plant-synthesized pentameric LTB-PEDV fusion bound to the intestinal membrane GM1-ganglioside receptor. This suggested that the fusion protein retained both its native antigenicity and the ability to form pentamers.