The Soapbark Tree Was the Only Source of a Potent Vaccine Adjuvant – Until Now
A molecule derived from the Chilean soapbark tree is a potent adjuvant now used in many vaccines, such as Mosquirix and Novavax. Now, it has been reported in Nature Chemical Biology that scientists have replicated it in an alternative plant host for the first time, opening unprecedented opportunities for the vaccine industry and relieving pressure on this limited natural source.
A research collaboration led by the John Innes Centre used the recently published genome sequence of the Chilean soapbark tree (Quillaja saponaria) to track down and map the elusive genes and enzymes in the complicated sequence of steps needed to produce the molecule QS-21.
Using transient expression techniques developed at the John Innes Centre, the team reconstituted the chemical pathway in a tobacco plant, demonstrating for the first time ‘free-from ‘tree’ production of this highly valued compound.
Professor Anne Osbourn FRS, group leader at the John Innes Centre said: “Our study opens unprecedented opportunities for bioengineering vaccine adjuvants. We can now investigate and improve these compounds to promote the human immune response to vaccines and produce QS-21 in a way which does not depend on extraction from the soapbark tree.”
Vaccine adjuvants are immunostimulants which prime the body’s response to the vaccine – and are a key ingredient of human vaccines for shingles, malaria, and others under development.
QS-21, a potent adjuvant, is sourced directly from the bark of the soapbark tree, raising concerns about the environmental sustainability of its supply.
For many years researchers and industrial partners have been looking for ways to produce the molecule in an alternative expression system such as yeast or tobacco plants.
But the complex structure of the molecule and lack of knowledge about its biochemical pathway in the tree have so far prevented this.
Previously researchers in the group of Professor Osbourn had assembled the early part of the pathway which makes up the scaffold structure for QS-21. However, the search for the longer full pathway, the acyl chain which forms one crucial part of the molecule that stimulates immune cells, remained unfinished.
Researchers at the John Innes Centre used a range of gene discovery approaches to identify around 70 candidate genes and transferred them to tobacco plants.
By analysing gene expression patterns and products, supported by the Metabolomic and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) platforms at the John Innes Centre, they were able to narrow the search down to the final 20 genes and enzymes which make up the QS-21 pathway.
First author Dr Laetitia Martin said: “This is the first time QS-21 has been produced in a heterologous expression system. This means we can better understand how this molecule works and how we might address issues of scale and toxicity.”
Source: John Innes Centre
