STTR Phase II: Scaling the Purification of Mycosporine-like Amino Acids to Replace Chemical Ultraviolet (UV) Filters and Protect Human and Environmental Health.

这项小型企业技术转让（STTR）第二阶段项目的更广泛影响将是将一种新的全光谱紫外线a和B （UVA和UVB）防护材料推向市场。目前的化学防晒成分引起了消费者的健康担忧。此外，一些成分被禁止对珊瑚礁生态系统造成潜在损害。消费者越来越希望产品对他们和地球都是安全的，而且美观。该项目将探索如何满足对可持续生产的更好的防晒霜成分日益增长的需求。该团队将研究从光合细菌中提取天然物质的方法，以经济有效地取代目前的化学和矿物防晒霜活性成分。这些也将取代紫外线过滤器成分的很大一部分。防晒霜和其他相关产品可能使用这些天然、安全、有效的成分，将帮助人们减少紫外线对皮肤的伤害，帮助减少皮肤癌（包括致命的黑色素瘤）和改善皮肤老化。该项目通过在藻类生物技术领域和化妆品行业（包括测试、制造、分销和销售）创造就业机会，支持美国经济。该提案的核心技术创新是提高从蓝藻细胞（或其他MAA产生生物）中含有的复杂化合物混合物中提取真菌孢素样氨基酸（MAAs）的产量和降低成本。目前，小批量的MAAs是使用昂贵和危险的溶剂和昂贵的设备获得的。创新的重点是使用合成核苷酸（适配体）选择性地结合MAAs并从细胞裂解物中纯化它们。类似霉菌素的氨基酸出现在地球早期，是为了保护微生物免受有害的紫外线辐射。它们的普遍存在和寿命证实了它们在保护细胞免受紫外线辐射和其他形式的氧化应激方面的价值。它们在地球海洋中存在了数千年，说明它们在海洋生态系统中是安全的，也表明它们在人类皮肤上使用是安全的；安全性将通过标准的临床前试验进行验证。技术障碍包括分离和鉴定所生产的特定MAA，确定对所生产的MAA具有高度特异性的适配体，确定几种纯化工艺的MAA产量以及评估工艺可扩展性。这些数据将与其他分离技术（过滤和色谱）进行比较，以评估相对产量和经济性能。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase II project will be to bring a new class of full spectrum Ultraviolet A and B (UVA and UVB) protective materials to market. Current chemical sunscreen ingredients raise health concerns for consumers. Additionally, some ingredients are banned for causing potential damage to coral reef ecosystems. Consumers increasingly want products that are safe for them and for the planet, and that are aesthetically pleasing. This project will explore ways to meet the growing demand for better sunscreen ingredients that are produced sustainably. This team will investigate methods to cost-effectively extract naturally-occurring materials from photosynthetic bacteria that can replace current chemical and mineral sunscreen active ingredients. These will also replace a significant portion of the UV filter ingredients. Sunscreens and other related products that might use these naturally occurring, safe, and effective ingredients will help people reduce UV damage to their skin and help reduce skin cancer (including deadly melanoma) and ameliorate skin aging. The project supports the US economy by creating jobs in the algae biotechnology field and in the cosmetic industry including testing, manufacturing, distribution, and sales. The technical innovation at the core of this proposal is to improve the yield and reduce the cost of extracting mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) from a complex mixture of compounds contained within cyanobacterial cells (or other MAA producing organisms). Small volumes of MAAs are currently obtained using expensive and hazardous solvents and expensive equipment. The innovation is focused on the use of synthetic nucleotides (aptamers) to selectively bind to the MAAs and purify them from a cell lysate. Mycosporine-like amino acids arose on early Earth to protect microbes from harmful UV radiation. Their prevalence and longevity substantiate their value in protecting cells from UV radiation and other forms of oxidative stress. Their presence in the Earth’s oceans for millennia speaks to their safety in marine ecosystems and suggests their safety for use on human skin; Safety will be verified using standard pre-clinical tests. Technical hurdles include the isolation and identification of the specific MAAs produced, identifying aptamers that are highly specific for the MAAs produced, determining MAA yield from several purification processes and assessing process scalability. These data will be compared to other isolation techniques (filtration and chromatography) to assess comparative yields and economic performance.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.