Chemical and biological characterization of vaccine adjuvant QS-21 produced via plant cell culture

Summary: Many vaccines, including those using recombinant antigen subunits, rely on adjuvant(s) to enhance the efficacy of the host immune responses. Among the few adjuvants clinically approved, QS-21, a saponin-based immunomodulatory molecule isolated from the tree bark of Quillaja saponaria (QS) i...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Xiangmin Lv, Jesse Martin, Heather Hoover, Bishnu Joshi, Margaret Wilkens, David A. Ullisch, Thomas Leibold, John S. Juchum, Sanket Revadkar, Barbara Kalinovska, Justin Keith, Adam Truby, Gui Liu, Elaine Sun, John Haserick, Jon DeGnore, Joseph Conolly, Adrian V.S. Hill, John Baldoni, Charlotte Kensil, Dan Levey, Alexandra J. Spencer, Gilbert Gorr, Mark Findeis, Antoine Tanne
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-03-01
Series:iScience
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S258900422400227X
Description
Summary:Summary: Many vaccines, including those using recombinant antigen subunits, rely on adjuvant(s) to enhance the efficacy of the host immune responses. Among the few adjuvants clinically approved, QS-21, a saponin-based immunomodulatory molecule isolated from the tree bark of Quillaja saponaria (QS) is used in complex formulations in approved effective vaccines. High demand of the QS raw material as well as manufacturing scalability limitation has been barriers here. We report for the first-time successful plant cell culture production of QS-21 having structural, chemical, and biologic, properties similar to the bark extracted product. These data ensure QS-21 and related saponins are broadly available and accessible to drug developers.
ISSN:2589-0042