Genetic construction of novel microbial strains for the production of high-grade and high-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid

透明质酸(HA)是一种高价值的天然多糖，在医疗保健和化妆品中有着广泛的应用。根据来源的不同，HA的相对分子质量可高达6mda，这与HA的适用性以及因此HA的质量和价格价值密切相关。HA大于1.8mda，具有很高的保水能力，有利于各种生物医学应用。最近，高级HA被确定为加拿大联合生物科学公司(UBCC)的新目标产品，UBCC是一家总部位于多伦多的公司，致力于创新开发科学和工程技术，以加强生物制造。在这项提案中，由C.Perry Chou教授领导的U滑铁卢大学研究小组将与UBCC合作，探索新型微生物菌株的基因结构，以生产用于生物医学应用的高质量高质量HA。勘探的成功将导致下一阶段在开发生物反应器系统和HA提纯工艺方面的重大合作，预计将显著缩短UBCC将高等级HA推向市场所需的时间。

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a high-value natural polysaccharide with various applications in healthcare and cosmetics. The molecular weight of HA, which can be as high as up to 6 MDa depending on the source, greatly correlates with HA applicability and, as a result, HA quality and price value. HA larger than 1.8 MDa has a high capacity to hold water and is advantageous for various biomedical applications. Recently, high-grade HA was identified the new target product of United Bioscience Canada, Corp. (UBCC), a Toronto-based company dedicated to innovative development of science and engineering technologies to enhance biomanufacturing. In this proposal, a UWaterloo research group led by Professor C. Perry Chou will team with UBCC to explore genetic construction of novel microbial strains to produce high-grade HA with a high molecular weight for biomedical applications. Success of the exploration can lead to the next phase of major collaboration in developing bioreactor system and HA purification process, which is expected to significantly shorten the timeframe required for UBCC to bring the high-grade HA into the market.