Expression and Activity Determination of Recombinant Osteoprotegerin from Silkworm Larvae

摘要

Osteoprotegerin (OPG) regulates the formation of osteoclasts and is involved in the regulation ofbone resorption and remodeling. In order to investigate the feasibility of using silkworm (Bombyx monri) larvae toproduce recombinant osteoprotegerin, we constructed recombinant Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis viruses(BmNPV) carrying osteoprotegerin cDNA, and expressed rhOPG in the larvae of silkworm by inoculation ofrecombinant virus. The expression product was run on the SDS-PAGE and its immunoreactivitiy was determinedby Western blotting. It was found that 47kD recombinant protein was expressed in larvae. The silkwormhemolymph prepared from larvae infected with recombinant virus was injected to mice abdominal cavity,Compared with the control, this injection was effective to decrease serum calcium concentration, and increasethe percent trabecular bone area in the distal femurs of rats. These results showed that rhOPG expressed insilkworm larvae had the proper bioactivity.