Secretion of an immunoreactive single-chain variable fragment antibody against mouse interleukin 6 by Lactococcus lactis

Interleukin 6 (IL-6) is an important pathogenic factor in development of various inflammatory and autoimmune diseases and cancer. Blocking antibodies against molecules associated with IL-6/IL-6 receptor signaling are an attractive candidate for the prevention or therapy of these diseases. In this study, we developed a genetically modified strain of Lactococcus lactis secreting a single-chain variable fragment antibody against mouse IL-6 (IL6scFv). An IL6scFv-secretion vector was constructed by cloning an IL6scFv gene fragment into a lactococcal secretion plasmid and was electroporated into L. lactis NZ9000 (NZ-IL6scFv). Secretion of recombinant IL6scFv (rIL6scFv) by nisin-induced NZ-IL6scFv was confirmed by western blotting and was optimized by tuning culture conditions. We found that rIL6scFv could bind to commercial recombinant mouse IL-6. This result clearly demonstrated the immunoreactivity of rIL6scFv. This is the first study to engineer a genetically modified strain of lactic acid bacteria (gmLAB) that produces a functional anti-cytokine scFv. Numerous previous studies suggested that mucosal delivery of biomedical proteins using gmLAB is an effective and low-cost way to treat various disorders. Therefore, NZ-IL6scFv may be an attractive tool for the research and development of new IL-6 targeting agents for various inflammatory and autoimmune diseases as well as for cancer.