Potato protease inhibitors inhibit food intake and increase circulating cholecystokinin levels by a trypsin-dependent mechanism.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the mechanisms underlying the satiety-promoting effects of a novel protease inhibitor concentrate derived from potato (PPIC). METHODS: The acute and prolonged effects of oral PPIC administration (100 mg kg(-1) per day) on food intake, body weight and gastric emptying were evaluated in healthy rats. Parameters of body weight, food intake, plasma glucose, insulin and cholecystokinin (CCK) were measured. Duodenal proteolytic activity and CCK expression were determined in tissue extracts. Intestinal STC-1 cell culture model was used to investigate the direct effect of PPIC on CCK transcript level and secretion. RESULTS: Acute oral administration of PPIC reduced immediate food intake during the first 2 h following the treatment, delayed gastric emptying and decreased proteolytic activity in the duodenum. Repeated oral ingestion of PPIC reduced weight gain in male rats and significantly elevated the plasma CCK levels. Although duodenal mucosal CCK mRNA levels increased in response to PPIC administration, the concentrate failed to elevate CCK expression or release in STC-1 cells. The 14-day ascending dose range study (33-266 mg kg(-1) PPIC per day) showed no adverse side effects associated with PPIC administration. CONCLUSION: These findings provided evidence that PPIC is effective in reducing food intake and body weight gain in healthy rats when administered orally by increasing circulating CCK levels through a trypsin-dependent mechanism.

A quick and efficient system for antibiotic-free expression of heterologous genes in tobacco roots.

Requirement for antibiotic-resistance selection markers and difficulty in identifying transgenes with the highest expression levels remain the major obstacles for rapid production of recombinant proteins in plants. An alternative approach to producing transgenic plants free of antibiotic-resistance markers is the phenotypic-based selection with root-proliferation genes (rol genes) of Agrobacterium rhizogenes. By using Agrobacterium tumefaciens harboring the pRYG transformation vector with a cluster of rol genes linked to a heterologous gene of interest, we have developed a rapid transformation tool using hairy root formation as a selection marker. The expression of beta-glucuronidase in newly induced transgenic tobacco roots could be detected as early as 12 days after inoculation. Higher levels of transgene expression in the roots correlated positively with the rates of root elongation on hormone-free medium and thus could be used for positive selection. When tobacco plants were transformed with pRYG harboring the expression cassette for secreted alkaline phosphatase (SEAP), the release of SEAP from roots of the fully regenerated transgenic plants could be quantified at rates as high as 28 microg/g root dry weight per day.

Rhizosecretion of recombinant proteins from plant hairy roots.

Rhizosecretion of a target protein in the hydroponic medium provides an alternative manufacturing platform that simplifies the downstream purification procedure and increases protein yield. In order to increase the production rates of rhizosecreted proteins, we have exploited the ability of Agrobacterium rhizogenes to induce the formation of large amounts of root tissue on transgenic tobacco plants engineered to secrete a model recombinant protein, human secreted alkaline phosphatase (SEAP). The secretion of SEAP from hairy roots induced on the stems of transgenic tobacco plants was 5-7 times higher than that from adventitious transgenic roots.

Tobacco ribosomal DNA spacer element stimulates amplification and expression of heterologous genes.

Here we show that the cis-acting genetic element aps (amplification-promoting sequence), isolated from the nontranscribed spacer region of tobacco ribosomal DNA (rDNA), increases the level of expression of recombinant proteins. Transgenic tobacco plants, transformed with expression cassettes containing the herbicide-resistant acetolactate synthase (hr-ALS) gene or the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene fused to the aps sequence, had greater levels of corresponding messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and proteins compared to transformants lacking aps. Analysis of transgenic plants showed that aps increased the copy number and transcription of the adjacent heterologous genes and, in the case of hr-ALS, enhanced the herbicide resistance phenotype. Both the increased transgene copy number and enhanced expression were stably inherited. These data provide the first evidence that the aps sequence can be used for gene amplification in transgenic plants and possibly other multicellular organisms.

Production of recombinant proteins in tobacco guttation fluid.

Guttation, the loss of water and dissolved materials from uninjured plant organs, is a common phenomenon in higher plants. By using endoplasmic reticulum signal peptides fused to the recombinant protein sequences, we have generated transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv Wisconsin) plants that secrete three heterologous proteins of different genetic backgrounds (bacterial xylanase, green fluorescent protein of jellyfish [Aequorea victoria], and human placental alkaline phosphatase) through the leaf intercellular space into tobacco guttation fluid. Production rates of 1.1 microg/g of leaf dry weight per day were achieved for alkaline phosphatase with this protein comprising almost 3% of total soluble protein in the guttation fluid. Guttation fluid can be collected throughout a plant's life, thus providing a continuous and nondestructive system for recombinant protein production. Guttation fluid has the potential of increasing the efficiency of recombinant protein production technology by increasing yield, abolishing extraction, and simplifying its downstream processing.