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Marine sponges are known to produce an overwhelming array of secondary metabolites with pharmaceutical potential. The technical and economical potential of using marine sponges for large-scale production of these compounds was assessed for two cases: the anticancer molecule halichondrin B from a Lissodendoryx sp., and avarol from Dysidea avara for its antipsoriasis activity. An economic and technical analysis was done for three potential production methods: mariculture, ex situ culture (in tanks), and cell culture. We concluded that avarol produced by mariculture or ex situ culture could become a viable alternative to currently used pharmaceuticals for the treatment of psoriasis. Production of halichondrin B from sponge biomass was found to not be a feasible process, mainly due to the extremely low concentration of the compound in the sponge. Technical feasibility was also analyzed for five alternatives: chemical synthesis, wild harvest, primmorph culture, genetic modification and semisynthesis. It was concluded that the latter two approaches could prove to be valuable methods for the production of pharmaceuticals, based on chemical structures of secondary metabolites present in trace amounts in marine sponges. B 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The ultrastructure of isolated fibrils of Chondrosia reniformis sponge collagen was investigated by collecting characteristic data, such as fibril thickness, width, D-band periodicity, and height modulation, using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Therefore an adapted pre-processing of the insoluble collagen into homogeneous suspensions using neutral buffer solutions was essential, and several purification steps have been developed. Fourier transform infrared reflection-absorption spectroscopy (FT-IRAS) of the purified sponge collagen showed remarkable analogy of peak positions and intensities with the spectra of fibrillar calf skin type I collagen, despite the diverse phylogenetic and evolutionary origin. The sponge collagen's morphology is compared with that of other fibrillar collagens, and the typical banding of the separated single fibrils is discussed by comparison of topographical data obtained using AFM and corresponding TEM investigations using common staining methods. As the TEM images of the negatively stained fibrils showed alternating dark and light bands, AFM revealed a characteristic periodicity of protrusions (overlap zones) followed by two equal interband regions (gap zones). AFM and TEM results were correlated and multiperiodicity in Chondrosia collagen's banding is demonstrated. The periodic dark bands observed in TEM images correspond directly to the periodic protrusions seen by AFM. As a result, we provide an improved, updated model of the collagen's structure and organization.

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The hydrogel with estradiol-loaded collagen nanoparticles enabled a prolonged estradiol release compared to a commercial gel and yielded a considerably enhanced estradiol absorption. Consequently, sponge collagen nanoparticles represent promising carriers for transdermal drug delivery.