Dr Diane Webster - Researcher Profile

Biography

Diane works in the School of Biological Sciences at Monash University as a Research Fellow

Diane’s research areas of interest are:

• Plant-made recombinant proteins with therapeutic potential.
• Plant molecular farming involves using transgenic plants to make compounds (proteins) which are not normally made in plants. My laboratory works with proteins that are medically interesting and may one day be used to treat or prevent diseases.
• Plant-based production systems have a number of advantages, including the ability to make large quantities of high-quality protein at relatively low cost. Medicines made in plants can be safely extracted from leaves and roots without the risk of contamination by human pathogens. Alternatively, they can be given in whole-plant formulations. For example, leaves expressing a measles vaccine can be freeze-dried, ground to a powder and given orally in a capsule or as a paste.
• We produce recombinant proteins in plants using viral vectors, stable transgenic plants and/or hairy root cultures. Currently, our major projects include the production of a plant-made vaccine for malaria and production and characterisation of a protein which may be useful in the treatment of conditions as diverse as diabetes, heart disease and Alzheimer's disease.

Research Objectives
• To use plant systems for the expression of high-quality medically interesting proteins such as vaccines and therapeutic agents (stable and transient expression, root culture, viral vectors).
• To optimise the conformation, post-translational processing and functional activity of plant-made proteins to produce highly bioactive compounds.

Keywords

Plant-made recombinant proteins with therapeutic potential

Qualifications

PHILOSOPHY

Institution: University of Otago

Year awarded: 1999

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONOURS) BOTANY

Institution: University of Otago

Year awarded: 1994

Publications

Journal Articles

Webster, D., Merlin, T., 2012, Post-tanslational modification of plant-made foreign proteins; glycosylation and beyond, Biotechnology Advances [P], vol 30, Elsevier Inc, United States, pp. 410-418.

Ma, C.W.C., Wang, L., Webster, D.E., Campbell, A.E., Coppel, R.L., 2012, Production, characterisation and immunogenicity of a plant-made Plasmodium antigen - the 19 kDa C-terminal fragment of Plasmodium yoelii merozoite surface protein 1, Applied Microbiology And Biotechnology [P], vol 94, issue 1, Springer, Germany, pp. 151-161.

De Guzman, G., Walmsley, A., Webster, D., Hamill, J., 2012, Use of the wound-inducible NtQPT2 promoter from Nicotiana tabacum for production of a plant-made vaccine, Biotechnology Letters [E], vol 34, issue 6, Springer Netherlands, Netherlands, pp. 1143-1150.

Coughlan, M., Yap, F., Tong, D., Andrikopoulos, S., Gasser, A., Thallas-Bonke, V., Webster, D., Miyazaki, J., Kay, T., Slattery, R., Kaye, D., Drew, B., Kingwell, B., Fourlanos, S., Groop, P., Harrison, L., Knip, M., Forbes, J., 2011, Advanced glycation end products are direct modulators of beta-cell function, Diabetes [P], vol 60, issue 10, American Diabetes Association, Alexandria USA, pp. 2523-2532.

M Ongkudon, C., Pickering, R., Webster, D., Danquah, M., 2011, Cultivation of E. coli carrying a plasmid-based Measles vaccine construct (4.2 kbp pcDNA3F) employing medium optimisation and pH-temperature induction techniques, Microbial Cell Factories [P], vol 10, BioMed Central, London UK, pp. 1-10.

De Guzman, G., Walmsley, A., Webster, D., Hamill, J., 2011, Hairy roots cultures from different Solanaceous species have varying capacities to produce E. coli B-subunit heat-labile toxin antigen, Biotechnology Letters [P], vol 33, issue 12, Springer, Netherlands, pp. 2495-2502.

Penfold, S.A., Coughlan, M.T., Patel, S.K., Srivastava, P.M., Sourris, K.C., Steer, D., Webster, D., Thomas, M.C., MacIsaac, R.J., Jerums, G., Burrell, L.M., Cooper, M.E., Forbes, J.M., 2010, Circulating high-molecular-weight RAGE ligands activate pathways implicated in the development of diabetic nephropathy, Kidney International [P], vol 78, issue 3, Nature Publishing Group, UK, USA, pp. 287-295.

Gahan, M.E., Webster, D.E., Wesselingh, S.L., Strugnell, R.A., Yang, J., 2009, Bacterial antigen expression is an important component in inducing an immune response to orally administered Salmonella-delivered DNA vaccines, PLoS ONE [P], vol 4, issue 6, Public Library of Science, USA, pp. 1-9.

Webster, D.E., Wang, L., Mulcair, M., Ma, C., Santi, L., Mason, H., Wesselingh, S.L., Coppel, R.L., 2009, Production and characterization of an orally immunogenic Plasmodium antigen in plants using a virus-based expression system, Plant Biotechnology Journal [P], vol 7, Blackwell Publishing Ltd, USA, pp. 846-855.

Wang, L., Webster, D., Campbell, A.E., Dry, I.B., Wesselingh, S.L., Coppel, R.L., 2008, Immunogenicity of Plasmodium yoelii merozoite surface protein 4/5 produced in transgenic plants, International Journal of Parasitology, vol 38, Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd, Oxford England UK, pp. 103-110.

Gahan, M., Webster, D.E., Wijburg, O.L., Wesselingh, S.L., Strugnell, R.A., 2008, Impact of prior immunological exposure on vaccine delivery by Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, Vaccine, vol 26, issue 49, Elsevier, UK, pp. 6212-6220.

Zanin, M.P., Webster, D., Wesselingh, S.L., 2007, A DNA prime, orally delivered protein boost vaccination strategy against viral encephalitis, Journal of NeuroVirology, vol 13, issue 3, Informa Healthcare, United Kingdom, pp. 284-289.

Gahan, M.E., Webster, D., Wesselingh, S.L., Strugnell, R., 2007, Impact of plasmid stability on oral DNA delivery by Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, Vaccine, vol 25, issue 8, Elsevier Ltd, UK, pp. 1476-1483.

Pickering, R.J., Smith, S.D., Strugnell, R.A., Wesselingh, S.L., Webster, D., 2006, Crude saponins improve the immune response to an oral plant-made measles vaccine, Vaccine, vol 24, issue 2, Elsevier Science Ltd, Oxford England, pp. 144-150.

Webster, D., Smith, S.D., Pickering, R.J., Strugnell, R., Dry, I.B., Wesselingh, S., 2006, Measles virus hemagglutinin protein expressed in transgenic lettuce induces neutralising antibodies in mice following mucosal vaccination, Vaccine, vol 24, issue 17, Elsevier Science Ltd, Oxford England, pp. 3538-3544.

Webster, D.E., Beck, D., Rabenstein, F., Forster, R.L.S., Guy, P., 2005, An improved polyclonal antiserum for detecting Ryegrass mosaic rymovirus, Archives Of Virology [P], vol 150, issue 9, Springer Wein, Austria, pp. 1921-1926.

Webster, D.E., Thomas, M., Pickering, R., Whyte, A., Dry, I., Gorry, P.R., Wesselingh, S., 2005, Is there a role for plant-made vaccines in the prevention of HIV/AIDS?, Immunology and Cell Biology [E], vol 83, issue 3, Nature Publishing, UK, pp. 239-247.

Webster, D., Thomas, M.C., Huang, Z., Wesselingh, S.L., 2005, The development of a plant-based vaccine for measles, Vaccine, vol 23, Elsevier, Oxford England, pp. 1859-1865.

Wang, L., Webster, D., Wesselingh, S., Coppel, R.L., 2004, Orally delivered malaria vaccines: not too hard to swallow, Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy, vol 4, issue 10, Ashley Publications Ltd, London England, pp. 1585-1594.

Webster, D.E., Gahan, M., Strugnell, R.A., Wesselingh, S.L., 2003, Advances in Oral Vaccine Delivery Options, American Journal of Drug Delivery [P], vol 1, issue 4, Adis International Ltd, New Zealand, pp. 227-240.

Zanin, M.P., Webster, D.E., Martin, J.L., Wesselingh, S.L., 2003, Japanese encephalitis vaccines: moving away from the mouse brain, Expert Review of Vaccines [P], vol 2, Expert Reviews Ltd, United Kingdom, pp. 89-98.

Webster, D., Thomas, M.C., Strugnell, R.A., Dry, I.B., Wesselingh, S.L., 2002, Appetising solutions: an edible vaccine for measles, Medical Journal of Australia, vol 176, issue 9, Australasian Medical Publishing Company, Ltd, Sydney NSW Australia, pp. 434-437.

Webster, D., Cooney, M.L., Huang, Z.J., Drew, D.R., Ramshaw, I.A., Dry, I.B., Martin, J.L., Wesselingh, S.L., Strugnell, R.A., 2002, Successful Boosting of a DNA Measles Immunization with an Oral Plant-Derived Measles Virus Vaccine, Journal of Virology, vol 76, issue 15, American Society for Microbiology, Washington DC USA, pp. 7910-7912.

Huang, Z.J., Dry, I.B., Webster, D., Strugnell, R.A., Wesselingh, S.L., 2001, Plant-derived measles virus hemagglutinin protein induces neutralizing antibodies in mice, Vaccine, vol 19, Elsevier Science Ltd, Oxford England, pp. 2163-2171.

Conference Proceedings

Wang, L., Ma, C.W.C., Webster, D.E., Wesselingh, S.L., Coppel, R.L., 2009, Examination of novel strategies for the production and delivery of malaria vaccines, Symposium 7: Cancer: From genes to therapy, April 24-27, The Australia Chinese Association for Biomedical Sciences Inc., Australia, p. 194.

Postgraduate Research Supervisions

Current Supervision

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

Biosynthesis of nanoparticles using Solanum lycopersicum: optimisation, characterisation and their potential in formulation of plant-made pharmaceuticals.

Supervisors:

Webster, D (Main), Piedrafita, D (Associate), White, P (Associate), Walmsley, A (Associate).

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

Investigation of the genus Mycoplana for plant biotechnology applications.

Supervisors:

Webster, D (Main), Walmsley, A (Associate).

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

Mucosal delivery of sub-cellularly localized plant made recombinant antigens ESAT-6 and Ag85B of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Supervisors:

Balasubramanian, S (Main), Piedrafita, D (Associate), Webster, D (Associate), Walmsley, A (Associate).

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

Oral delivery of plant-made model respiratory antigens, the HA of influenza and protective antigens from Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Supervisors:

Mcgraw, E (Main), Ffrench, R (Associate), Walmsley, A (Associate), Webster, D (Associate).

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

Production of human epidermal growth factor in plant cell culture.

Supervisors:

Webster, D (Main), Akbarzadeh, S (Associate), Walmsley, A (Associate).

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

Tailoring the activity of the soluble receptor for advanced glycation end-products (sRAGE) by in planta glycoengineering.

Supervisors:

Webster, D (Main), Walmsley, A (Associate).

Completed Supervision

Student:

Gahan, M.

Program of Study:

Optimisation of oral vaccine delivery by Salmonella typhimurium. (PHD) 2005.

Supervisors:

Wesselingh, S (Main), Webster, D (Associate).

Student:

Pickering, R.

Program of Study:

Modulating the immune response to a plant-made measles vaccine through antigen composition. (PHD) 2008.

Supervisors:

Hamill, J (Joint-Co), Webster, D (Joint), Wesselingh, S (Associate).