Alzheimer’s Disease is believed to be caused by the accumulation of beta-amyloid, a toxic insoluble fibrous protein in the brain, which leads to the death of neurons. Thus, to prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, researchers are trying to find ways of the build up of these substances by stimulating the immune system, e.g. with a vaccine, to reduce beta-amyloid in the brain.

Korean researchers have genetically modified tomatoes to carry the gene for the human amyloid
for the purpose of using it as an oral, edible vaccine.

Using Agrobacterium-mediated nuclear transformation, we generated transgenic tomatoes for Aβ with tandem repeats. Integration of the human Aβ gene into the tomato genome and its transcription were detected by PCR and Northern blot, respectively. Expression of the Aβ protein was confirmed by western blot and ELISA, and then the transgenic tomato line expressing the highest protein level was selected for vaccination. Mice immunized orally with total soluble extracts from the transgenic tomato plants elicited an immune response after receiving a booster. The results indicate that tomato plants may provide a useful system for the production of human Aβ antigen.

Clearly, this line of research is still in the early stages. All it was able to show was that the tomatoes did elicit an immune response in the test animals. Whether those animals were actually protected against Alzheimers disease was not reported.

Hat Tip: Biotech Weblog, Photo Credit: freestuf

Post from: Blisstree

Genetically Modified Tomatoes as Oral Vaccine Against Alzheimer’s Disease?