E coli production an option for affordable conjugate vaccines

By Nick Taylor

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags Escherichia coli

Producing conjugate vaccines in recombinant E coli is potentially simpler and more cost-effective than alternatives, say researchers, but the method suffers from low yields.

Use of conjugate vaccines for combating infectious diseases in the developing world is currently limited by production costs. Production in recombinant Escherichia coli (E coli) is potentially a simpler, more cost-effective method that would make vaccination campaigns economically viable.

Writing in the journal Microbial Cell Factories​ researchers describe producing potential vaccines against shigellosis, a disease responsible for 1m deaths a year in the developing world, using recombinant E coli​.

Glycosylation of carrier proteins occurred in E coli ​cultivated in 2.5L or 3.5L fed-batch bioreactors. Using this process the researchers produced bioconjugates that are potential vaccines against shigellosis.

In this work it was demonstrated for the first time that glycosylated proteins can be produced in recombinant E coli at a larger scale in fed-batch culture​”, wrote the researchers. However, time-space-yields for glycoconjugates are still low compared to methods using recombinant proteins.

Increasing yields

Despite this current shortcoming the researchers believe the technique has potential. Amounts of glycoconjugate needed per vaccination are relatively low and applying different methods could increase yields.

For instance, the researchers suggest process modifications could result in more complete glycosylation of carrier proteins. Alternative strains of E coli ​hosts could also increase yields, as could optimisation of the sequence context of glycosylation sites in carrier proteins.

Identification of metabolic bottlenecks and subsequent molecular engineering of host strains is also on option. Finally, protein engineering could be used to improve functional expression or catalytic efficiency.

Successfully increasing the yield could make in vivo ​production a viable alternative to the multi-step process​ which is currently used to manufacture conjugate vaccines.

Related news

Show more

Related product

Understanding the hidden value of quality

Understanding the hidden value of quality

Content provided by Thermo Fisher Scientific – Production Chemicals and Services | 16-Jan-2023 | White Paper

The raw material supply is too vital to leave to chance, and quality-related supply chain activities are cornerstones to your success.