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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Biotechnology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1481452
This article is part of the Research Topic Plant Molecular Farming for Biopharmaceutical Production and Beyond View all articles

Characterization of a Plant-Derived Monoclonal Antibody Targeting Extracellular Enveloped Virions of Monkeypox Virus

Provisionally accepted
Jennifer A. Melendez Jennifer A. Melendez Haiyan Sun Haiyan Sun James Bonner James Bonner QIANG CHEN QIANG CHEN *
  • Arizona State University, Tempe, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    In 2022, the global outbreak of monkeypox virus (MPXV) with increased human-to-human transmission triggered urgent public health interventions. Plant-derived monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are being explored as potential therapeutic strategies due to their diverse mechanisms of antiviral activity. MPXV produces two key infectious particles: the mature virion (MV) and the extracellular enveloped virion (EV), both essential for infection and spread. Effective therapies must target both to halt replication and transmission. Our prior research demonstrated the development of a potent neutralizing mAb against MPXV MV. This study focuses on developing a plant-derived mAb targeting MPXV EV, which is critical for viral dissemination within the host and generally resistant to antibody neutralization. Our findings reveal that the mAb (H2) can be robustly produced in Nicotiana benthamiana plants via transient expression. The plant-made H2 mAb effectively targets MPXV EV by binding specifically to the A35 MPXV antigen. Importantly, H2 mAb shows notable neutralizing activity against the infectious MPXV EV particle. This investigation is the first to report the development of a plant-derived anti-EV mAb for MPXV prevention and treatment, as well as the first demonstration of anti-MPXV EV activity by an mAb across any production platform. It highlights the potential of plant-produced mAbs as therapeutics for emerging infectious diseases, including the MPXV outbreak.

    Keywords: Monkeypox Virus (MPXV), Extracellular enveloped virion (EV), Monoclonal antibody, plant-made biologics, Plant-made antibody

    Received: 15 Aug 2024; Accepted: 10 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Melendez, Sun, Bonner and CHEN. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: QIANG CHEN, Arizona State University, Tempe, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.