Large‐scale production of pharmaceuticals by marine sponges: Sea, cell, or synthesis?

Abstract

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.

Environmental Flow Regimes for Dysidea avara Sponges

“…Early clinical results have been promising, and projections for an expanded market have begged the question of a sustainable source of supply. Aquaculture of D. avara, both in situ and ex situ, has been proposed and preliminarily investigated (Sipkema et al 2005). Aquaculture for the production of drugs from other sponges has been reviewed by Battershill and Page (1996).…”

“…Sponges are notoriously sensitive organisms that are difficult to culture ex situ (Sipkema et al 2005). So far, we have not been successful in our attempts to grow D. avara in tanks.…”

Cultivation of Marine Sponges with Pharmaceutical Value: Status and Future Prospects in India

“…For instance, the marine sponge Dysidea avara produces avarol which is a very important metabolite with various applications. This sponge is known to contain 2g of avarol per kg wet weight, and therefore a total of 75 tons of sponge would be required to sustain market demand (Sipkema et al, 2005b). Selvin and Lipton (2004) reported recovery of bioactive extracts of marine sponges Axinella donnani (8g/kg), Dendrilla nigra (6g/kg) and Clathria gorgonoides (3.8g/kg).…”

“…Several methods of cultivation were employed globally including in situ culture using concrete discs as artificial substratum with sponge pieces attached to aluminium wire (Moore, 1910),threaded rope separated by plastic spacers, pearl panel, mesh array (reviewed by Duckworth, 2009), explants cultured in horizontal polypropylene ropes to coral anchors, Japanese method of hanging sponges on vertical lines extending from bamboo rafts and along lines attached to beer bottle floats (Macmillan, 1996), stainless steel frame and cage, Shish kebab method (Osinga et al, 2010), Metal grids (Schifenhovel and Kunzmann, 2012), horizontal rope, small cage and glue to metallic frame (Decaralt et al, 2010), mesh arrays and rope array (Duckworth and Battershill, 2003 a & b), suspension method (threading sponge fragments on rope) (Hadas et al, 2005),tray batteries moored to sea floor (Muller et al, 1999), lanterns (Scallop lantern 1m in diameter with ten tiers supported by wire hoops and covered in 1.5cm nylon mesh (Munro et al, 1999), iron cages , ex situ cultivation using rectangular PVC bioreactors (Osinga et al, 2003), aquarium (Lipton and Shine 2009;Schifenhovel and Kunzmann, 2012;, FRP tanks (Vinod et al, 2009) and cell culture (Sipkema et al, 2005b). Macmillan (1996) describes that horizontal line method used by most sponge farmers in Micronesia is probably the cheapest, easiest and versatile method to culture sponges.…”

“…The potential of marine sponge Dysidea avara has been thoroughly discussed (Sipkema et al, 2005b;Decaralt et al, 2010;Osinga et al, 2010;Tommanaro et al, 2015) as they produce avarol, an important metabolite which has several potential applications. Their culture practices has been demonstrated and higher survival rates of over 90% has been reported (Osinga et al, 2010).…”