Plantmademicrobicides

Plant-Made Microbicides

In the ongoing effort to stem the tide of HIV fatalities, new approaches are being brought to bear. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute, led by Regents’ professor Charles Arntzen, are exploring the use of plants for the synthesis of HIV microbicides that would target the virus at its point of entry on the mucosal surfaces of the body. For the large-scale production of recombinant proteins, plants are potentially the most economical platform. Preventive treatments based on plant-derived subunits of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) offer a cost-effective means of combating the growing AIDS pandemic.

Microbicides may take the form of vaginal gels or other systems (i.e., vaginal rings) that would block viral intrusion beyond the mucosal boundary and give women more direct power in preventing HIV infection.

This project uses a novel approach that could advance low-cost, effective microbicides and is part of a larger, national collaborative effort to use transgenic plant technology to produce cost-effective HIV prevention agents for future human clinical trials. Mucosal antibodies have shown promising early results as mechanisms of exclusion which block HIV infection in the female reproductive tract. Green plants provide a versatile means of biomanufacturing cost-effective microbicides and mucosal vaccines based on antibody activity.  Three key components of the current project are being investigated concurrently:

  • The diversification, characterization and preclinical evaluation of human monoclonal antibodies protective against sexually transmitted viral infection
  • The creation and preclinical evaluation of mucosally targeted immunogens to achieve effective vaginal antibody concentrations against sexually transmitted viral infection.
  • The clinical evaluation of both passive and active immunization to achieve robust antibody concentrations in the female reproductive tract against sexually transmitted viral infection.
  • Results of this study will be used to help define the safety and effectiveness of a layered system of plant-derived public health products to combat the continuing advance of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.


Funded with support from: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.