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ワクチン開発のための基礎的研究 - Marni E. Cueno
Plants have been used in a variety of purposes which include but are not limited to food source and commercial raw materials. My current work involves a combination science approach, whereby two or more unrelated fields of sciences are used to produce pioneering research work or provide a fresh approach, towards understanding previously unexplained medical phenomena.
1. Plant-based approach towards understanding HIV-1 Tat-induced oxidative stress
Plants have developed an extensive reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging system making plants a suitable host to test stress-inducing genes and proteins. HIV-1 Tat (transactivator of transcription) is known to cause oxidative stress by repressing superoxide dismutase (SOD) which subsequently allows ROS to increase. However, the mechanism behind Tat-induced ROS increase is still unknown. It is hoped that by expressing Tat in plants, a plant-based approach towards understanding the mechanism behind Tat-induced ROS increase can be elucidated.
2. Oral prophylactic vaccine production using plant cells
Several strategies have been used to make plant vaccines, in particular edible vaccines. A novel approach towards making plant-based vaccines would be with the use of a protein motif that would allow access of the leaderless secretory pathway. By allowing proteins to be secreted from plant cells and collected in a water-based medium, an antigen solution is easily produced which can be used to induce an immune response in the oral, pharyngeal and/or intestinal mucosal lining.
