ALGOSMETIC

Natural products have been the main source of inspiration for the development of new pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and nutritional products over the past century. In addition to terrestrial organisms, marine organisms have proven in recent decades to be exceptionally rich producers of bioactive compounds with unique chemical structures and mechanisms of action. In recent years, an increasing number of companies engaged in the development and production of cosmetic formulations have focused their efforts on the exploitation of natural products with anti-aging, whitening, or wound-healing properties.

In contrast to terrestrial organisms, which have been the subject of intensive research, marine benthic organisms remain much less studied. Nevertheless, a number of compounds with valuable properties for the field of cosmetology have already been reported from macroalgae. Although macroalgae and their bioactive constituents are internationally used not only in the food industry but also in the cosmetic and/or nutraceutical industries, the rich biodiversity of the Eastern Mediterranean remains largely unexplored.

The ALGOSMETIC project aims to identify metabolites with anti-aging, melanogenesis-inhibitory, and/or wound-healing activity from macroalgae of the Greek seas. Within the framework of ALGOSMETIC, a large number of macroalgae—showing extensive population growth and/or for which aquaculture know-how already exists, either for the same or related species—will be collected from different geographic areas and at different times of the year. After preparing extracts of varying polarity for each macroalgal species, an initial screening of their antioxidant and photoprotective activity will be carried out using human primary fibroblasts. Their melanogenesis-inhibitory and wound-healing activities will also be evaluated in zebrafish embryos.

The bioactive extracts on a larger scale will undergo a series of bioassay-guided fractionations aimed at isolating the metabolites responsible for the observed activity. Following the identification of the chemical structures of the isolated metabolites, they will be studied for their ability to delay or even reverse aging processes both in a cellular model of replicative senescence and in an organismal model using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Furthermore, they will be evaluated in zebrafish embryos for their ability to inhibit melanogenesis or induce an immune response by promoting wound healing, while their activity will also be confirmed at the cellular level in mammalian melanocytes and human fibroblast cultures, respectively.

For the successful implementation of the ALGOSMETIC project, three research institutions will collaborate — the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), the National Hellenic Research Foundation (NHRF), and the Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens (BRFAA) — each contributing complementary expertise in natural products chemistry, molecular and cellular aging, and the development of animal models of human diseases.

The results of ALGOSMETIC are expected to attract the interest of companies active in aquaculture and the production of cosmetic formulations, which could benefit from technology transfer and collaboration with the participating research organizations, yielding multiple economic, social, and environmental benefits. The proposed research will develop the know-how and tools required to exploit the rich biodiversity and chemodiversity of the Eastern Mediterranean, laying the foundation for the future valorization of this important national asset.