ABSTRACT
Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) has been affecting the swine industry, especially in suckling pigs in with a high mortality rate. Among all the strategies to overcome PEDV, boosting mucosal immunity in pig intestine via oral administration appears to be more efficient than other routes. However, there are biological obstacles such as acidic environment that could damage biologics, a product from organisms often used for PEDV treatment. The plant-derived 2C10 monoclonal antibody (mAb) from Nicotiana benthamiana produced by transient expression was revealed as one of the potential candidates against PEDV through oral delivery. Herein, we demonstrated the calcium-alginate microencapsulation system to protect the 2C10 mAb from the harsh condition in the stomach and to be released the 2C10 mAb when arriving in the intestine. The pH-responsive encapsulated 2C10 mAb microbeads were constructed from the calcium-alginate system. The microbeads were well-tolerated under the acidic environment of simulated gastric fluid (SGF) and were digested under the alkaline condition of simulated intestinal fluid (SIF). The encapsulated 2C10 mAb in the SPF-treated microbeads exhibited high virus neutralization efficiency in Vero cells when compared to the unencapsulated 2C10 mAb treated by SPF that cannot neutralize the virus. For these reasons, calcium-alginate microencapsulation system is an attractive platform to be considered as a candidate for the next generation of oral vaccine development.