The commercial goal of Phycotransgenics, L.L.C. is to develop economical and effective oral vaccine for animals and humans. The specific aim of this proposal is the development of a microalgal-based oral vaccine for the prevention of amebic dysentery in humans caused by the protozoan parasite Entamoeba histolytica. It is our hypothesis that an oral, microalgal-based vaccine delivery system is a cost-effective means to vaccinate against amebic dysentery. The specific objective of this SBIR Phase 1 research proposal is to determine if microalgae expressing the heavy subunit of the Gal/GaINAc lectin antigen can elicit an immune response in a model mouse system. Our strategy is to: 1) generate and confirm expression of the Gal/GalNAc lectin antigen in transgenic algae (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii); 2) use the transgenic algae expressing the Gal/GalNAc lectin antigen to deliver oral immunogens (in drinking water and/or feed) to mice in collaboration with our University of Virginia partners, and; 3) confirm induction of an immune response specific to the Gal/GalNAc lectin antigen by western blot analysis using preimmune (negative control) and immune sera from vaccinated and non-vaccinated mice. Subsequent research objectives will include pathogen challenge trials of vaccinated and non-vaccinated animals to determine whether the vaccine provides protection from the pathogen. Completion of the Phase I research objectives will provide an eventual model for investigating the delivery of microalgal oral vaccines to humans using this patent-pending microalgal-based antigen expression and delivery system.
Thesaurus Terms: Chlamydomonas, Entamoeba histolytica, amebiasis, communicable disease control, drug delivery system, genetically modified plant, oral administration, protozoal antigen, vaccine development antigen antibody reaction, gene expression, immune response, lectin, vaccine evaluation biotechnology, laboratory mouse, western blotting
