Cloning and Expression of Leishmania infantum LPG3 Gene by the Lizard Leishmania Expression System

Background: various prokaryotic and eukaryotic expression systems have been developed for the production of recombinant proteins. in the present study, we used a new protein expression system based on the iranian lizard leishmania, a trypanosomatid protozoan as a host, for the expression of lpg3 gene from leishmania infantum (l.infantum). methods: the lpg3 gene was cloned in the expression cassette for integration into the small subunit of the ribosomal rna locus of lizard leishmania ge- nome by electroporation. expression of the recombinant lpg3 protein was confirmed by western blotting and immunofluorescence staining. results: western blotting confirmed the expression and production of rlpg3 protein. immunofluoresence analysis also revealed the staining throughout the cytoplasm of transfected parasites, indicating that the protein has been ex- pressed. conclusion: these results demonstrate that leishmania cells can be suggested an expression system for the production of recombinant lpg3 (rlpg3) to fur- ther research in vaccine designing against leishmaniasis.