The Development of the Yeast Pichia pastoris as an Engineered Probiotic
Poster Number
13A
Format
Poster Presentation
Faculty Mentor Name
Geoff Lin-Cereghino
Faculty Mentor Department
Biological Sciences
Additional Faculty Mentor Name
Der Thor
Abstract/Artist Statement
The yeast Pichia pastoris is used to produce many genetically engineered proteins, including some that are medicinal agents, such as lactase and insulin. Usually, the P. pastoris create these medicinal proteins inside large containers called fermenters, and these therapeutic agents require purification and other intensive processing before they can be supplied as a pill or injection. As an alternative, we decided to explore developing P. pastoris into a probiotic that could grow within and deliver these therapeutic proteins directly to the mammalian body. In our studies, we fed P. pastoris containing a model recombinant gene, the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) gene, to mice over several months. Our goal was to answer the following: 1) did these yeasts colonize the mouse digestive tract? 2) did the yeasts produce the EGFP inside the challenging environment of the mouse intestines? and 3) did the yeast do any harm to the mice, as demonstrated by causing inflammation? Our preliminary results suggest that recombinant P. pastoris has the potential to serve as an engineered probiotic that could be utilized to treat some human diseases.
Location
Information Commons, William Knox Holt Memorial Library and Learning Center
Start Date
29-4-2023 10:00 AM
End Date
29-4-2023 1:00 PM
The Development of the Yeast Pichia pastoris as an Engineered Probiotic
Information Commons, William Knox Holt Memorial Library and Learning Center
The yeast Pichia pastoris is used to produce many genetically engineered proteins, including some that are medicinal agents, such as lactase and insulin. Usually, the P. pastoris create these medicinal proteins inside large containers called fermenters, and these therapeutic agents require purification and other intensive processing before they can be supplied as a pill or injection. As an alternative, we decided to explore developing P. pastoris into a probiotic that could grow within and deliver these therapeutic proteins directly to the mammalian body. In our studies, we fed P. pastoris containing a model recombinant gene, the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) gene, to mice over several months. Our goal was to answer the following: 1) did these yeasts colonize the mouse digestive tract? 2) did the yeasts produce the EGFP inside the challenging environment of the mouse intestines? and 3) did the yeast do any harm to the mice, as demonstrated by causing inflammation? Our preliminary results suggest that recombinant P. pastoris has the potential to serve as an engineered probiotic that could be utilized to treat some human diseases.