Heat Shock Protein Project

The objective of this project is to develop methods and technologies for the industrial production of a particular class of proteins, the so called Heat Shock Proteins (HSP). These proteins are potential candidates for use in the pharmaceutical industries with respect to vaccines, or other therapies based on immune response such those relative to treatment of malignant tumours thanks to their innate ability to stimulate the immune system.

HSP proteins are present in cells of all living organisms and are rapidly induced by abiotic stress. Typically this stress is a brusque changes in temperature such as heating, hence the name heat shock proteins. Within cells these proteins function to stabilize other proteins, in so helping to prevent their denaturisation following stress. Some classes of HSP are capable of specifically binding to receptors present on immune cells thereby augmenting their response whether innate or acquired.

The process developed by us  uses the natural capacity of plants to respond to stress, in this case to temperature, in a manner that induces the production of HSP in plant tissue. Typically plants, for example alfalfa, are thermally stressed in the field during cutting and harvesting. These plants are then left for a predetermined period of time to accumulate HSPs.

The proteins are then extracted and separated from the remaining biomass by an industrial process of fractionation where solids and liquids are divided. The soluble proteins found in the liquid phase are then concentration by membrane filtration. Subsequently the HSPs are purified by chromatography to a purity of 80% to 90% depending of the application of interest.
HSPs obtained in this manner can be used in different industrial sectors as ingredients or components in new products. In particular they can be applied to the food industry as functional additives, and in the pharmaceutical industry to strengthen the immune system response.
A mechanical prototype for in field heat shock during harvest and a pilot plant capable of processing 1000 to 3000 kilo/hour of plant biomass was realized