Expression of human β-amyloid peptide in transgenic potato

The insoluble p-amyloid peptide is associated with the development of Alzheimer's disease. beta-amyloid cDNA was cloned from human wild-type APP695 cDNA. Transgenic potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) plants were then developed by introducing the gene encoding beta-amyloid, under the control of CaMV 35S promoter. The presence of the beta-amyloid gene in the plant genome was verified by PCR and Southern hybridization experiments. Northern blot analysis showed that the genes coding for the beta-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 beta-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. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.