N. Benthamiana-Based VLP Production Service
Virus-like particles (VLPs) are nanoscale structures composed of assembled viral proteins that lack viral genetic material and are therefore not infectious. CD BioSciencesoffers VLPlantTM, a plant-based recombinant expression system for constructing VLPs, which offers many advantages over traditional mammalian, yeast, insect, and bacterial expression systems.
CD BioSciencesis a leading global company with advanced equipment and experienced staff dedicated to helping our global customers build VLPs fromNicotiana benthamiana (N. benthamiana)plant to help you develop vaccines, nanomaterials and diagnostic reagents.
Overview ofN. benthamiana
N. benthamiana, commonly known as benth or benthi, is a close relative of tobacco.N. benthamianahas cysteine proteases which are involved in many processes such as protein pre-processing, programmed cell death and protein turnover. Due to the large number of plant pathogens that can infect it,N. benthamianais used as a model organism in plant research and is widely used in the field of plant virology.
N. benthamianain VLP Vaccine
Thanks to the development of plant (Agrobacterium) transient expression systems,N. benthamianahas demonstrated unprecedented speed and productivity in the production of VLPs. The range of targets for therapeutics produced by N. benthamiana is enormous. These include therapies - mainly vaccines - for influenza virus, Ebola, dengue, norovirus, HIV, HAV, HBV, HCV, COVID-19, plague, bluetongue virus, rabies and cholera.
Transient expression inN. benthamiana. (James R,et al., 2018)
Our Services
CD BioSciencesoffers services covering all experiments related to the construction of VLPs through N. benthamiana, including the construction of vectors containing the target gene, plant transient expression systems (Agrobacterium) and harvesting of N. benthamianaplants containing VLPs, as well as VLP-Purification.
Workflow of Our Service
It all starts with screening for the target gene or viral code and then using our technology to synthesize genetic instructions that the plant can `read`. The synthesized target gene is inserted into a bacterium, which then carries the information intoN. benthamianaplant cell.
Transient expression mediated byAgrobacteriumallows for faster and more efficient production of VLPs by the plant. The plant expression vector is transformed into the rootingAgrobacteriumand theAgrobacteriumthen infiltrates into theN. benthamianaplant.N. benthamianaplants are placed in carefully controlled greenhouses to rapidly produce VLPs in large quantities.
Once the plants have finished growing, we harvest the plants and mix the leaves with a solution to extract VLPs. VLPs do not contain genetic material, so they are not infectious. Additionally, plants carry a very low risk of introducing foreign human pathogens.
Our purification services for VLPs constructed from plant platforms include PEG precipitation, ultracentrifugation techniques, and affinity chromatography, to name a few. See the VLP-Purification page for details.