New Source of 3D Chitin Scaffolds: The Red Sea Demosponge <i>Pseudoceratina arabica</i> (Pseudoceratinidae, Verongiida)
Lamiaa A. Shaala,
Hani Z. Asfour,
Diaa T. A. Youssef,
Sonia Żółtowska-Aksamitowska,
Marcin Wysokowski,
Mikhail Tsurkan,
Roberta Galli,
Heike Meissner,
Iaroslav Petrenko,
Konstantin Tabachnick,
Viatcheslav N. Ivanenko,
Nicole Bechmann,
Lyubov V. Muzychka,
Oleg B. Smolii,
Rajko Martinović,
Yvonne Joseph,
Teofil Jesionowski,
Hermann Ehrlich
Affiliations
Lamiaa A. Shaala
Natural Products Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Centre, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Hani Z. Asfour
Department of Medical Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Princess Al-Jawhara Center of Excellence in Research of Hereditary Disorders, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Diaa T. A. Youssef
Department of Natural Products, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Sonia Żółtowska-Aksamitowska
Institute of Chemical Technology and Engineering, Faculty of Chemical Technology, Poznan University of Technology, Poznan 60965, Poland
Marcin Wysokowski
Institute of Chemical Technology and Engineering, Faculty of Chemical Technology, Poznan University of Technology, Poznan 60965, Poland
Mikhail Tsurkan
Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden, Dresden 01069, Germany
Roberta Galli
Clinical Sensoring and Monitoring, Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden 01307, Germany
Heike Meissner
Department of Prosthetic Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden 01307, Germany
Iaroslav Petrenko
Institute of Electronics and Sensor Materials, Technische Universität Bergakademie-Freiberg, Freiberg 09599, Germany
Konstantin Tabachnick
P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 117997, Russia
Viatcheslav N. Ivanenko
Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Biological Faculty, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow 119992, Russia
Nicole Bechmann
Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus at the Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden 01307, Germany
Lyubov V. Muzychka
V.P. Kukhar Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry and Petrochemistry, National Academy of Science of Ukraine, Kiev 02094, Ukraine
Oleg B. Smolii
V.P. Kukhar Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry and Petrochemistry, National Academy of Science of Ukraine, Kiev 02094, Ukraine
Rajko Martinović
Institute of Marine Biology, University of Montenegro, Kotor 85330, Montenegro
Yvonne Joseph
Institute of Electronics and Sensor Materials, Technische Universität Bergakademie-Freiberg, Freiberg 09599, Germany
Teofil Jesionowski
Institute of Chemical Technology and Engineering, Faculty of Chemical Technology, Poznan University of Technology, Poznan 60965, Poland
Hermann Ehrlich
Institute of Electronics and Sensor Materials, Technische Universität Bergakademie-Freiberg, Freiberg 09599, Germany
The bioactive bromotyrosine-derived alkaloids and unique morphologically-defined fibrous skeleton of chitin origin have been found recently in marine demosponges of the order Verongiida. The sophisticated three-dimensional (3D) structure of skeletal chitinous scaffolds supported their use in biomedicine, tissue engineering as well as in diverse modern technologies. The goal of this study was the screening of new species of the order Verongiida to find another renewable source of naturally prefabricated 3D chitinous scaffolds. Special attention was paid to demosponge species, which could be farmed on large scale using marine aquaculture methods. In this study, the demosponge Pseudoceratina arabica collected in the coastal waters of the Egyptian Red Sea was examined as a potential source of chitin for the first time. Various bioanalytical tools including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), fluorescence microscopy, FTIR analysis, Calcofluor white staining, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), as well as a chitinase digestion assay were successfully used to confirm the discovery of α-chitin within the skeleton of P. arabica. The current finding should make an important contribution to the field of application of this verongiid sponge as a novel renewable source of biologically-active metabolites and chitin, which are important for development of the blue biotechnology especially in marine oriented biomedicine.
