INFLUENZA VIRUS-LIKE PARTICLE PRODUCTION IN PLANTS

A method of producing a virus like particle (VLP) in a plant comprising modified hemagglutinin is provided. The method comprises introducing a nucleic acid comprising a regulatory region active in the plant and operatively linked to a nucleotide sequence encoding a modified influenza hemagglutinin (HA) protein into the plant， or portion of the plant， the modified HA protein comprises a modified proteolytic loop. Followed by incubating the plant or portion of the plant under conditions that permit the expression of the nucleic acids， thereby producing the VLP. The modified proteolytic loop may comprise one or more protease cleavage sites exhibiting reduced or abolished cleavage by a protease. The nucleotide sequence encoding the HA may be selected from the group consisting of B HA， C， H1， H2， H3， H4， H5， H6， H7， H8， H9， H10， H11， H12， H13， H14， H15， and H16. Also described is a virus like particle (VLP) produced by the method， and plants expressing the VLP. The virus like particle (VLP) may comprise plant-specific N-glycans， or modified N- glycans. A method of producing a virus like particle (VLP) in a plant comprising modified hemagglutinin is provided. The method comprises introducing a nucleic acid comprising a regulatory region active in the plant and operatively linked to a nucleotide sequence encoding a modified influenza hemagglutinin (HA) protein into the plant， or portion of the plant， the modified HA protein comprises a modified proteolytic loop. Followed by incubating the plant or portion of the plant under conditions that permit the expression of the nucleic acids， thereby producing the VLP. The modified proteolytic loop may comprise one or more protease cleavage sites exhibiting reduced or abolished cleavage by a protease. The nucleotide sequence encoding the HA may be selected from the group consisting of B HA， C， H1， H2， H3， H4， H5， H6， H7， H8， H9， H10， H11， H12， H13， H14， H15， and H16. Also described is a virus like particle (VLP) produced by the method， and plants expressing the VLP. The virus like particle (VLP) may comprise plant-specific N-glycans， or modified N- glycans.