SGER: Tissue Engineering of Sponge Cells for Biopharmaceuticals

University Of California-Berkeley, Berkeley CA

Investigators

Abstract

Blanch 0337080 Sea sponges are a prolific source of compounds with high potential therapeutic value. Over the past decade, compounds have been isolated from sponge extracts with potent anti-mitotic, anti viral and antibacterial properties. However, due to environmental constraints and accessibility, insufficient sponge biomass is available from which to extract these compounds for testing and clinical trials. To date, there are no immortalized sponge cell lines and techniques for cell cultivation are still in their infancy. This project is to carry out exploratory studies on the adaptation of modern tissue engineering techniques, particularly the recent developments in three-dimensional scaffold materials, to cultivate cells of the sea sponge Axinella corrugata in vitro.