Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2016 Jun 17;17(6):962.
doi: 10.3390/ijms17060962.

The Potential for Microalgae as Bioreactors to Produce Pharmaceuticals

Na Yan  1   2 , Chengming Fan  3 , Yuhong Chen  4 , Zanmin Hu  5
Affiliations
Review

The Potential for Microalgae as Bioreactors to Produce Pharmaceuticals

Na Yan et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

As photosynthetic organisms, microalgae can efficiently convert solar energy into biomass. Microalgae are currently used as an important source of valuable natural biologically active molecules, such as carotenoids, chlorophyll, long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, phycobiliproteins, carotenoids and enzymes. Significant advances have been achieved in microalgae biotechnology over the last decade, and the use of microalgae as bioreactors for expressing recombinant proteins is receiving increased interest. Compared with the bioreactor systems that are currently in use, microalgae may be an attractive alternative for the production of pharmaceuticals, recombinant proteins and other valuable products. Products synthesized via the genetic engineering of microalgae include vaccines, antibodies, enzymes, blood-clotting factors, immune regulators, growth factors, hormones, and other valuable products, such as the anticancer agent Taxol. In this paper, we briefly compare the currently used bioreactor systems, summarize the progress in genetic engineering of microalgae, and discuss the potential for microalgae as bioreactors to produce pharmaceuticals.

Keywords: bioreactor; microalgae; pharmaceuticals; recombinant proteins.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Demain A.L., Vaishnav P. Production of recombinant proteins by microbes and higher organisms. Biotechnol. Adv. 2009;27:297–306. doi: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2009.01.008. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ferrer-Miralles N., Domingo-Espín J., Corchero J.L., Vázquez E., Villaverde A. Microbial factories for recombinant pharmaceuticals. Microb. Cell Fact. 2009;8:17. doi: 10.1186/1475-2859-8-17. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Corchero J.L., Gasser B., Resina D., Smith W., Parrilli E., Vázquez F., Abasolo I., Giuliani M., Jäntti J., Ferrer P. Unconventional microbial systems for the cost-efficient production of high-quality protein therapeutics. Biotechnol. Adv. 2013;31:140–153. doi: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2012.09.001. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sanchez S., Demain A.L. Enzymes and bioconversions of industrial, pharmaceutical, and biotechnological significance. Org. Process Res. Dev. 2010;15:224–230. doi: 10.1021/op100302x. - DOI
    1. Cereghino G.P.L., Cregg J.M. Applications of yeast in biotechnology: Protein production and genetic analysis. Curr. Opin. Biotechnol. 1999;10:422–427. doi: 10.1016/S0958-1669(99)00004-X. - DOI - PubMed

MeSH terms

Substances