Fig. 4: Engineered Lactobacillus vector for ACE2 expression.
From: Systems biology and microbiome innovations for personalized diabetic retinopathy management
This figure illustrates a probiotic construct designed to express codon-optimized human ACE2127. The construct consists of the LDH promoter, a strong constitutive promoter derived from the lactate dehydrogenase gene of Lactobacillus acidophilus, which drives the expression of the gene cassette, starting with a signal peptide sequence from the Usp45 protein and CTB for enhanced stability. ACE2 is expressed as a secreted fusion protein alongside CTB. A furin cleavage site is positioned between ACE2 and CTB, which facilitates the release of ACE2 upon expression. The transcriptional terminator sequence ensures proper termination of mRNA synthesis (ACE2 angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, LDH lactate dehydrogenase, CTB cholera toxin subunit B).
