Marine Phytoplankton Bioactive Lipids and Their Perspectives in Clinical Inflammation
Edoardo Andrea Cutolo,
Rosanna Campitiello,
Valeria Di Dato,
Ida Orefice,
Max Angstenberger,
Maurizio Cutolo
Affiliations
Edoardo Andrea Cutolo
Laboratory of Photosynthesis and Bioenergy, Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona, Strada le Grazie 15, 37134 Verona, Italy
Rosanna Campitiello
Laboratory of Experimental Rheumatology and Academic Division of Clinical Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genoa, 16132 Genova, Italy
Valeria Di Dato
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn Napoli, Ecosustainable Marine Biotechnology Department, Via Ammiraglio Ferdinando Acton 55, 80133 Napoli, Italy
Ida Orefice
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn Napoli, Ecosustainable Marine Biotechnology Department, Via Ammiraglio Ferdinando Acton 55, 80133 Napoli, Italy
Max Angstenberger
Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Max-von-Laue-Str. 9, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Maurizio Cutolo
Laboratory of Experimental Rheumatology and Academic Division of Clinical Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genoa, 16132 Genova, Italy
Marine phytoplankton is an emerging source of immunomodulatory bioactive lipids (BLs). Under physiological growth conditions and upon stress challenges, several eukaryotic microalgal species accumulate lipid metabolites that resemble the precursors of animal mediators of inflammation: eicosanoids and prostaglandins. Therefore, marine phytoplankton could serve as a biotechnological platform to produce functional BLs with therapeutic applications in the management of chronic inflammatory diseases and other clinical conditions. However, to be commercially competitive, the lipidic precursor yields should be enhanced. Beside tailoring the cultivation of native producers, genetic engineering is a feasible strategy to accrue the production of lipid metabolites and to introduce heterologous biosynthetic pathways in microalgal hosts. Here, we present the state-of-the-art clinical research on immunomodulatory lipids from eukaryotic marine phytoplankton and discuss synthetic biology approaches to boost their light-driven biosynthesis.
