Expression of human β-amyloid peptide in transgenic potato

Abstract

The insoluble β-amyloid peptide is associated with the development of Alzheimer’s disease. β-amyloid cDNA was cloned from human wild-type APP695 cDNA. Transgenic potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.) plants were then developed by introducing the gene encoding β-amyloid, under the control of CaMV 35S promoter. The presence of the β-amyloid gene in the plant genome was verified by PCR and Southern hybridization experiments. Northern blot analysis showed that the genes coding for the β-amyloid antigen could be expressed in potato plants. Three lines of transgenic plant that express high levels of mRNA were screened in a further analysis. The expression of recombinant β-amyloid was then observed in transgenic plants by ELISA using the specific antibody developed, the results showed three- to fivefold higher than non-transgenic potatoes. The morphological characteristics, including shoot growth and tuberization were investigated between non-transgenic and transgenic potato plants. No significant differences in shoot growth and tuberization were observed between the non-transgenic and transgenic plants.