PRODUCING NATURAL B-CAROTENE FOR CHEMOTHERAPEUTIC USE

β-胡萝卜素(维生素A原)最近被证明是一种有效的 化疗药物在癌症治疗和预防中的作用。 此外，胡萝卜素是生物合成的(含有9-顺式异构体)。 似乎是一种比目前更有效的抗肿瘤药物 化学制造的(全反式异构体)。目前，没有任何成本 生物合成生产β-胡萝卜素的竞争过程。我们有 确定了一种可以在常规条件下生长的微藻物种， 纯净室，发酵条件，并产生一种贝塔- 胡萝卜素和伽马胡萝卜素。这项研究项目的目的是 在无菌条件下生产药用级β-胡萝卜素 与化学合成路线相比，成本具有竞争力。在第一阶段，我们将 开始对其β-胡萝卜素生产率进行优化 微生物通过改进培养基组分和 发酵的物理参数。我们还将筛选出 可能具有非调控生物合成的高产克隆系 路径。根据这些初步结果，我们将能够 确定总体方法的经济可行性。在阶段中 二、继续做好优化和规模化发展准备工作 建立一个商业规模的过程。

beta-carotene (Provitamin A) has recently been shown to be an effective chemotherapeutic agent in the treatment and prevention of cancer. Moreover, carotenes produced biosynthetically (containing 9-cis isomers) appear to be a more effective antitumor agents than those presently manufactured chemically (all-trans isomers). At present, there is no cost competitive process of biosynthetically producing beta-carotene. We have identified a microalgal species which can be grown under conventional, clean-room, fermentation conditions, and produces a mixture of beta- carotene and gamma-carotene. The gaol of this research project is to produce a pharmaceutical grade beta-carotene under aseptic conditions at a cost competitive with the chemical synthesis route. In Phase I, we shall begin the optimization of the beta-carotene productivity of this microorganism through improvements to the medium composition and the physical parameters of the fermentation. We shall also screen for overproducing clone lines which may have a deregulated biosynthetic pathway. On the basis of these preliminary results we will be able to determine the economic feasibility of the overall approach. During Phase II, the optimization and scale-up development will continue in preparation to establishing a commercial scale process.