A HUMANIZED MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODY PRODUCED IN TRANSGENIC PLANTS FOR IMMUNOPROTECTION OF THE VAGINA AGAINST GENITAL HERPES

The ability to produce monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) in plants offers t he opportunity for the development of an inexpensive method of mucosal immunoprotection against sexually transmitted diseases. To investigat e the suitability of plant-expressed Mabs for vaginal preventive appli cations, we compared a humanized anti-herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-P) M ab expressed in mammalian cell culture with the same antibody expresse d in soybean. We found these Mabs to be similar in their stability in human semen and cervical mucus over 24 h, their ability to diffuse in human cervical mucus, and their efficacy for prevention of vaginal HSV -2 infection in the mouse.