Marine cyanobacterium Spirulina maxima as an alternate to the animal cell culture medium supplement

Abstract

Serum is a stable medium supplement for in vitro cell culture. Live cells are used in stem cell research, drug toxicity and safety testing, disease diagnosis and prevention, and development of antibiotics, drugs, and vaccines. However, use of serum in culture involves concerns such as an ethical debate regarding the collection process, lack of standardized ingredients, and high cost. Herein, therefore, we evaluated the possibility of using edible cyanobacterium (Spirulina maxima), which is a nutrient-rich, sustainable, and ethically acceptable source, as a novel substitute for fetal bovine serum (FBS). H460 cells were cultured to the 10th generation by adding a mixture of spirulina animal cell culture solution (SACCS) and FBS to the culture medium. Cell morphology and viability, cell cycle, apoptosis, proteomes, and transcriptomes were assessed. We observed that SACCS had better growth-promoting capabilities than FBS. Cell proliferation was promoted even when FBS was replaced by 50–70% SACCS; there was no significant difference in cell shape or viability. There were only slight differences in the cell cycle, apoptosis, proteomes, and transcriptomes of the cells grown in presence of SACCS. Therefore, SACCS has the potential to be an effective, low-cost, and eco-friendly alternative to FBS in in vitro culture.

Wide Range Applications of Spirulina: From Earth to Space Missions

“…There are no in vivo studies providing strong evidence supporting the possible antiviral properties of Spirulina. However, Spirulina inhibits the in vitro replication of several enveloped viruses, including Herpes simplex type I, human cytomegalovirus, the measles and mumps virus, influenza A, and Human immunodeficiency virus-1 virus (HIV-1) [ 45 , 81 ]. L-asparaginase (L-AsnA) is an enzyme present in the composition of Spirulina .…”

“…The L-AsnA enzyme, contained in Spirulina, in a recent study, showed an antiproliferation effect against lung cancer A549, hepatocellular carcinoma Hep-G2, and prostate cancer PC3 human cancer cell lines. Considering the antiviral and antiproliferative activity of L-AsnA against different human cell lines, it would be desirable to investigate its effects further [ 81 ].…”

“…This is a brief overview of several potential benefits of Spirulina in different scenarios of kidney damage. All the studies reported were conducted in vivo in animal models (e.g., rats) and require more validation to confirm results on human tissue (both in vivo and in vitro) [ 81 , 133 , 139 ].…”

Biotechnological and Technical Challenges Related to Cultured Meat Production

“…Higher cell growth [49,50] Rice protein hydrolysate CHO-320 Human HepG cells Protection against oxidation stress from hydrogen peroxide [51,52] Soy peptones CHO DG44 Improved cell production [53] Wheat hydrolysates CHO Improved cell viability [54] Marine cyanobacterium Spirulina maxima Human Lung Carcinoma Improved cell viability and proliferation [55] Chlorella vulgaris extract CHO-K1 and MSC Promoted cell growth [56] Rapeseed caked CHO-C5 Promoted cell growth [57] Silk sericin hydrolysate CHO and Hela cells Improved cell growth and proliferation [58] Whey protein CHO K1 JURKAT E6. 1 Improved cell viability and proliferation [59] The matrices shown in Table 2 are those that achieved promising results in cell proliferation and viability.…”

Development and evaluation of culture media based on extracts of the cyanobacterium Arthrospira platensis

“…Despite these advantages, there are currently no commercially available culture media prepared from the hydrolyzed extracts of cyanobacteria. Moreover, little research has been done to explore the potential of cyanobacteria as a raw material for the development of new culture media ( Jeong et al, 2021 ).…”