Antibody Pharming in Transgenic Plants: An Overview

Abstract

Antibodies (Abs) are secreted large-sized glycoprotein products of terminally differentiated B cells in vertebrate species and since their discovery during 1890s, they have been widely used for diagnosis, prevention and treatment of diseases, epidemiology and life-science research. They have been traditionally produced in large amounts by repeated immunization of animals. Various techniques for production of full-length and fragments of antibody that have been introduced later are: (i). hybridoma technology during 1970s, (ii). recombinant DNA technologies for Ab production in heterologous expression systems during 1980s, and (iii). technologies for “antibody display” libraries since 1990s. In addition, cost-effective agriculture-scale Abs have been produced in transgenic plants since 1990s. Antibody “pharming” (pharmaceutical farming) is a portmanteau term used for agriculture-scale production of antibodies as pharmaceutical in transgenic plants. Attempts are being made to overcome various present-day bottlenecks such as low yield, costly downstream processing, biosecurity risks, etc. First generation “plantibodies” (Abs produced in plants) specific to various clinically important antigens have now reached commercialization stage. An overview of the field of antibody pharming is presented.

Keywords: Antibodies, hybridoma, pharming, plantibodies