Production of biological active murine IFN-γ by recombinant Lactococcus lactis

Abstract

IFN-γ is a cytokine produced primarily by both T lymphocytes and natural killer cells and it is considered to be an attractive therapeutic molecule. In the present study, a DNA sequence encoding the mature murine IFN-γ (muIFN-γ) protein was cloned and expressed in the food-grade lactic acid bacterium Lactococcus lactis. The activity of recombinant muIFN-γ produced by genetically engineered L. lactis was confirmed in an antiviral assay using MoV cells infected with Vesicular Stomatitis Virus. The data provide the first demonstration that a Gram-positive bacterium, L. lactis, is able to produce functional muIFN-γ. This recombinant strain could lead to the development of a new, well-tolerated vector to deliver active muIFN-γ at the mucosal level.