Research On Efficient Expression Of Hepatitis B Surface Antigen Gene In The Chloroplast Of Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii

Chlamydomonas reinhardtii has become the model organism which is used to study many life phenomena due to its unique cell structure and clear genetic background. Chlamydomonas reinhardtii chloroplast which is a great bioreactor is usually used to express foreign genes. To now, many proteins have been expressed in the chloroplast of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Unfortunately, because of the low expression level of foreign gene, the commercial application of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii has been limited.The hepatitis B virus is a serious threat to human health. The hepatitis B vaccination is considered as the only way of controlling the spread of hepatitis B virus and preventing its infection. There are a lot of hepatitis B patients in China, and thus it is necessary to produce sufficient quantities, effective and affordable vaccine.With development of genetic engineering and molecular biology, some pharmaceutical proteins had been expressed in the chloroplast of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. In this study, based on the former work of our Lab, the expression vectors containing the PreS2_S gene of HBsAg were constructed. Then the vectors above were transformed into the chloroplast of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. The positive strains were isolated through resistance screening and the PreS2_S gene expression level was confirmed by ELISA. This study establishes the foundation for further biological production of hepatitis B virus.