3-D Culture of Marine Sponge Cells for Production of Bioactive Compounds

• Published in: Marine drugs Vol. 19; no. 10; p. 569
• Main Authors: Urban-Gedamke, Elizabeth, Conkling, Megan, McCarthy, Peter J, Wills, Paul S, Pomponi, Shirley A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 14.10.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: 3-D culture; Animals; Aquaculture; Aquatic Organisms; Bioactive compounds; Biological activity; Biological Products - metabolism; Biomass; Biotechnology; Cell culture; Cell division; Cell lines; Cells; Chemical synthesis; Disks; Drug development; FibraCel® disks; Flasks; gel microdroplets; Gels; hydrogel; Hydrogels; Marine invertebrates; marine sponge; Metabolism; Metabolites; Mineral nutrients; Nutrients; Polyesters; Porifera; Thin films; ultra low temperature agarose; Water quality; gel microdroplets; ultra low temperature agarose; hydrogel; marine sponge; 3-D culture; FibraCel® disks; marine natural products
• ISSN: 1660-3397; 1660-3397
• DOI: 10.3390/md19100569

Production of sponge-derived bioactive compounds in vitro has been proposed as an alternative to wild harvest, aquaculture, and chemical synthesis to meet the demands of clinical drug development and manufacture. Until recently, this was not possible because there were no marine invertebrate cell lines. Recent breakthroughs in the development of sponge cell lines and rapid cell division in improved nutrient media now make this approach a viable option. We hypothesized that three-dimensional (3-D) cell cultures would better represent how sponges function in nature, including the production of bioactive compounds. We successfully cultured sponge cells in 3-D matrices using FibraCel disks, thin hydrogel layers, and gel microdroplets (GMDs). For in vitro production of bioactive compounds, the use of GMDs is recommended. Nutrients and sponge products rapidly diffuse into and out of the 3-D matrix, the GMDs may be scaled up in spinner flasks, and cells and/or secreted products can be easily recovered. Research on scale-up and production is in progress in our laboratory.