ANTIBODY-PRODUCTION IN SILKWORM CELLS AND SILKWORM LARVAE INFECTED WITH A DUAL RECOMBINANT BOMBYX-MORI NUCLEAR POLYHEDROSIS-VIRUS

We have examined the efficiency of coexpression of two heterologous genes from a recombinant Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus for the production of antibodies in silkworm larvae. The cDNAs encoding the light and the heavy chains of a murine immunoglobulin, directed against lipoprotein I of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, were brought under the control of two separate copies of the viral polyhedrin promotor. Infection of silkworm cells with the recombinant baculovirus yielded a maximum Of 6.4-mu-g/ml IgG2A in the culture supernatant 72 hours post infection, while 800-mu-g/ml IgG2A was found in the hemolymph of infected fifth instar silkworm larvae seven days after infection with the same construct. The recombinant antibody exhibited a similar antigen specificity and avidity to that of the monoclonal antibody derived from ascites fluid.