Expression of bioactive porcine interferon-alpha in Lactobacillus casei

World J Microbiol Biotechnol. 2014 Sep;30(9):2379-86. doi: 10.1007/s11274-014-1663-7. Epub 2014 May 13.

Abstract

In this study, we constructed an expression cassette containing the inducible lac promoter and the secretion signal from an S-layer protein of Lactobacillus brevis for the expression of porcine interferon-alpha (IFN-α) in Lactobacillus casei (Lb. casei). Reverse-transcriptase PCR verified the presence of porcine IFN-α mRNA in the recombinant Lb. casei. The porcine IFN-α protein expressed in the recombinant Lb. casei was identified by both Western blot analysis and ELISA. We used various pH values and induction times to optimize the yield of IFN-α, and found that induction with 0.8% lactose for 16 h under anaerobic conditions produced the highest concentrations of IFN-α. Furthermore, the activity of porcine IFN-α in the cultural supernatant was evaluated on ST cells infected with pseudorabies virus. The results revealed that porcine IFN-α inhibited virus replication in vitro. The findings of our study indicate that recombinant Lb. casei producing porcine IFN-α has great potential for use as a novel oral antiviral agent in animal healthcare.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antiviral Agents / pharmacology
  • Blotting, Western
  • Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
  • Gene Expression*
  • Herpesvirus 1, Suid / drug effects
  • Herpesvirus 1, Suid / physiology
  • Interferon-alpha / biosynthesis*
  • Interferon-alpha / genetics
  • Interferon-alpha / pharmacology
  • Lacticaseibacillus casei / genetics
  • Lacticaseibacillus casei / metabolism*
  • Recombinant Proteins / biosynthesis
  • Recombinant Proteins / genetics
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Swine
  • Transcriptional Activation
  • Virus Replication / drug effects

Substances

  • Antiviral Agents
  • Interferon-alpha
  • Recombinant Proteins