Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pichia pastoris strains - producers of intracellular bovine interferon-gamma.
Anastasia Gradoboeva (1), Mikhail Smirnov (2), Marina Padkina (1)
(1) Laboratory of biochemical genetics, Biological Institute, Oranienbaumskoe sh., Saint Petersburg, 198904, Russian Federation; (2) Bolshoi pr. P.S.,29-A, 197198, Saint-Petersburg, Russia
It is known that the extensive use of antibiotic feed additives has been linked to the emergence in the food chain of multiple drug-resistant bacteria, environmental contamination and unwanted residues in food products. Recombinant animal cytokines, producing in nonpathogenic microorganisms (yeasts) offer exciting alternative to the conventional chemical-based therapeutics for disease control in food production animals. It is known that the bovine and swine immune interferon can be used as the effective drugs for therapy of bacterial and viral infections in animals. Of special interest in veterinary is the use of yeast strains providing intracellular accumulation of recombinant IFN-gamma. In this case we can avoid the time-consuming procedure of protein purification and IFN-gamma producing yeast can be used as a source of recombinant protein and as a food addition, increasing biological value of other fodder, activating the immune system and inducing own cytokines production. By now we have constructed the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pichia pastoris strains exhibited high level of recombinant bovine IFN-gamma production. It is significant that recombinant protein is in the soluble form in Pichia pastoris cells, whereas in S. cerevisiae it presents as 'inclusion bodies'. In the event of using yeast cells as a source of IFN-gamma and as a food addition in this affinity we see an advantage of P. pastoris as compared with S. cerevisiae.