PRODUCTION OF HUMAN TISSUE PLASMINOGEN ACTIVATOR (tPA) IN Cucumis sativus

Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) as a serine protease with 72 kD molecular mass and 527 amino acids plays an important role in the fibrinolytic system and the dissolution of fibrin clots in human body. The collective production of this drug in plants such as cucumber, one of the most important vegetables in the world, could reduce its production costs. In this study, after scrutiny of the appropriate regeneration of cucumber plant (Isfahan variety) on MS medium with naphthalene acetic acid hormone (NAA; 0/1 mg L−1) and benzyl amino purine hormone (BAP; 3 mg L−1) hormones, the cloned human tPA gene under the CaMV 35S promoter and NOS terminator into pBI121 plasmid was transferred into cotyledon explants by Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain LBA4404. Subsequent to the regeneration of inoculated explants on the selective medium, the persistence of tPA gene in recombinant plants was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with specific primers. To evaluate the tPA gene expression in transgenic plants, RN...