Sea urchins and shark's cartilage tissue can produce cartilage sugars, which can have a positive effect on various ailments that afflict humans. Matís ohf, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Iceland, IceProtein ehf and Reykofninn Grundarfjörður ehf are currently collaborating on research into chondroitin sulphate cartilage sugars and the development of their production.
Studies have shown that chondroitin sulfate oligosaccharides, which are the mainstay of cartilage building blocks, have a beneficial effect on blood pressure, the immune system, digestion, oxidative processes, inflammatory processes and arthritis. Furthermore, the inhibitory effect of cartilage on tumor growth has been demonstrated. Therefore, chondroitin sulfate cartilage sugar can be used as a medicine, health or dietary supplement. Different bioactivities of chondroitin sulfate oligosaccharides have been demonstrated according to their type and origin. AVS and Tækniþróunarsjóður support the project.
At Matís' laboratory, various methods have been used for the isolation and purification of chondroitin sulphate, and it has been possible to design a production process for such polysaccharides from sea otters and shark cartilage. The future is to scale up the career.
Specific biocatalysts will then be used to cut chondroitin sulfate polysaccharides into valuable bioactive polysaccharides. Isolation and production of such catalysts is another goal of the project.
Recently, microbial-containing microorganisms that break down chondroitin polysaccharides into oligosaccharides have been successfully isolated. In order to isolate and produce the relevant biocatalysts in an efficient manner, their genes must be found in the genome of the micro-organisms and the genes must be placed in production organisms. The search for the genes took place in an innovative way.
The genomes of two selected microbial strains were sequenced in their entirety using a new sequencing device owned by Matís and the University of Iceland. The second genome consisted of 6.7 million base pairs, the other of 4.8 million base pairs. The nucleic acid sequences of the genomes were then screened for alleged chondroitin sulfate degradation genes.
Work is now underway to transfer the genes to production organisms and to produce the gene products, the biocatalysts, using biotechnology methods. The Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Iceland will then be responsible for research into the bioactivity of the substances. Foreign pharmaceutical companies have shown interest in the project and it is clear that there is a demand for bioactive chondroitin sugars on the market. There is therefore pressure on the project participants to develop production processes and prepare products for the market as soon as possible.
More information on the AVS website, www.avs.is.