Title:UV Sunscreens of Microbial Origin: Mycosporines and Mycosporine- like Aminoacids
VOLUME: 8 ISSUE: 3
Author(s):Fernando Colabella, Martin Moline and Diego Libkind
Affiliation:Laboratorio de Microbiologia Aplicada y Biotecnologia, Instituto en Biodiversidad y Medio Ambiente, INIBIOMA (CONICET – UNComahue), Quintral 1250, 8400 Bariloche, Rio Negro, Argentina.
Keywords:Algae, antioxidants, carotenoids, cyanobacteria, microorganism, mycosporine, mycosporinelike
aminoacid, photoprotection, radiation protection, sunscreens, UV filters, UVB, yeast.
Abstract:Exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is harmful to living organisms, causing
damage to macromolecules such as DNA, RNA, proteins and lipids. Depending on the
wavelength, the injury could be direct or indirect through reactive oxygen intermediates, so
it is desirable to find compounds that can reduce both. Many organic chemicals used in commercial sunscreen
possess estrogenic activity in vivo. In this report we analyzed recent patents related to UV sunscreens of microbial
origin, in particular mycosporines (MYC) and mycosporine-like aminoacids (MAA). Both are promising
natural alternatives for both direct (UV-absorption) and indirect (antioxidant) protection, given they show
strong photostability and absence of cytotoxicity. It becomes clear that although the search for natural photoprotective
molecules is relatively recent, efforts have been invested mainly in marine environments, remaining
still many potential photoprotective molecules to find in other type of habitats. Furthermore, unicellular
microorganisms have several advantages for the production of metabolites of interest, since they improve the
production costs due to its simplicity of culture and easy genetic manipulation. The knowledge of the biosynthesis
pathway of MYC and MAA is essential to improve rationally their expression levels. Currently, only
the MAA pathway in bacteria has been reported, remaining the MYC pathway unclear. Future perspectives
include the heterologous expression of MYC and/or MAA in industrially friendly microorganisms (bacteria
and yeast) in order to co-produce different UV-protective molecules and thus cover a broader UV spectrum
and simplify the production process.
