“AntiAging” Project: Exploitation of Greek microbial diversity for the development of innovative cosmeceuticals and food supplements

Greek ecosystems are a fertile yet under-explored ground for the study of Actinobacteria–renowned producers of bioactive compounds. By exploring this under-investigated biodiversity and chemodiversity of Greek actinobacterial strains, the “AntiAging” project aims to uncover potentially novel natural compounds with anti-aging activity that can be formulated as cosmeceutical and nutraceutical products. In total, 1000 isolates belonging to the Athens University Bacterial & Archaea Culture Collection (ATHUBA)–some originating from unique environments (caverns, volcanoes, thermal springs, etc.)–were studied. An ultrasound-assisted extraction process was designed using solvents of increasing polarity to generate a customized in-house library of 2000 extracts. All extracts were investigated for their potential anti-aging properties and more specifically were assessed via enzymatic and cell-based assays for their anti-elastase and anti-tyrosinase activities. Based on this bioassay-guided approach, the metabolic screening and compound annotation of the most promising isolates is conducted via a high-throughput dereplication method (UPLC-HRMS). This leads to a targeted isolation and identification of compounds using state-of-the-art chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques (HPLC-DAD-ELSD, UPLC-HRMS, NMR). A smaller yet significant number of extracts demonstrated > 50% elastase inhibitory activity, whereas a considerably larger number exhibited > 50% tyrosinase inhibitory activity. Interestingly, in some cases, the bioactivity exceeded 80% in in vitro assays. The latter results show a hidden yet powerful potential of harnessing Greek microbial wealth in the context of the science of anti-aging.

“AntiAging” – GSRT – No. Τ2ΕΔΑ-01 410.

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Artikel online veröffentlicht:
12. Dezember 2022