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영어

Rheumatoid arthritis, which is known as an autoimmune phenomenon as the main mechanism, is a chronic inflammatory disease that causes inflammation in several joints, such as the hands, wrists, feet, and ankles. Humira, a monoclonal antibody, recognizes tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. Humira is mostly produced in animal cell-based production systems that have high investment costs, high production costs, and risk of contamination. In this study, Humira was produced using plants to overcome the problems of the existing production system. In order to improve the efficacy of the antibody and reduce side effects, glycoengineered plants without plant-specific residues developed in previous studies were used. In addition, in order to solve the low expression level of the recombinant protein, a vector containing the antibody gene was constructed using a virus-based expression system in which expression is regulated by an inducible promoter. The expression vector was introduced into Agrobacterium to transform wild-type plants and glycoengineered plants, and the transformed plants were selected using an antibiotic-containing medium and a reporter gene. The expression of the antibody expressed in the plant was confirmed using an antibody specific to the protein extracted from the leaf. It was identified at a size of approximately 50 kDa and 27 kDa, respectively, representing the heavy and light chains of the antibody. Single copy plants were selected through the segregation test, and homozygous lines were established through the selection process. The expression level of the recombinant protein by the inducible promoter was compared according to the concentration and time of the inducer. These results show the potential for lower production costs and safer production of rheumatoid arthritis drugs using plants.