Abstract
A native strain of the heterocytous cyanobacterium Trichormus variabilis VRUC 168 was mass cultivated in a low-cost photobioreactor for a combined production of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFA) and Exopolymeric Substances (EPS) from the same cyanobacterial biomass. A sequential extraction protocol was optimized leading to high yields of Released EPS (REPS) and PUFA, useful for nutraceutical products and biomaterials. REPS were extracted and characterized by chemical staining, Reversed Phase-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (RP-HPLC), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and other spectroscopic techniques. Due to their gelation property, REPS were used to produce a photo-polymerizable hybrid hydrogel (REPS-Hy) with addition of polyethylene glycol diacrylated (PEGDa). REPS-Hy was stable over time and resistant to dehydration and spontaneous hydrolysis. The rheological and functional properties of REPS-Hy were studied. The enzyme carrier ability of REPS-Hy was assessed using the detoxification enzyme thiosulfate:cyanide sulfur transferase (TST), suggesting the possibility to use REPS-Hy as an enzymatic hydrogel system. Finally, REPS-Hy was used as a scaffold for culturing human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). The cell seeding onto the REPS-Hy and the cell embedding into 3D-REPS-Hy demonstrated a scaffolding property of REPS-Hy with non-cytotoxic effect, suggesting potential applications of cyanobacteria REPS for producing enzyme- and cell-carrier systems.
Highlights
Cyanobacteria are known as the most abundant phototrophic organisms in the Ocean
We focused on Released EPS (REPS) that are usually recovered from the liquid growth media of cyanobacterial cultures with a green, environmentally safe process without using chemicals [16,17]
T. variabilis was obtained in a low-cost PBR to optimize a sequential extraction protocol for the Exopolymeric Substances (EPS) and Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFA) production
Summary
Cyanobacteria are known as the most abundant phototrophic organisms in the Ocean. They are versatile and successfully colonize a wide range of aquatic and terrestrial habitats thriving in strongly fluctuating environments, including the most extreme habitats on Earth [1]. In the past few years, several studies have demonstrated a high potential application of cyanobacterial EPS that consist of various organic substances: mainly extracellular polysaccharides, uronic acids, proteins, nucleic acids and lipids [16]. EPS hydration and rheological properties are important to prevent cell desiccation and to confer pseudoplastic behavior of the extra-cellular environment [18,19,30] These polymers are involved in other relevant physiological roles from the UV protection and antibiotic resistance, to the mechanical strength and exo-enzymatic degradation activity [18,31,32], which could be of interest for biomedical applications.
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