1.3.1 Collagen
Collagen is a high molecular weight proteinaceous biomaterial, component
of connective tissues of humans, vertebrates and invertebrates. The
shape and structural properties of collagen are established by triple
helix domain. Collagens are divided into five different groups based on
their structure, function, location and other characteristics. Type I
and V collagen group is allied with bone, dermis, tendon, ligaments,
cornea and Type II cartilage is associated with cartilage, nucleus
pulposus, vitreous body and Type III is obtained from vessel wall, skin,
reticular fibers of lung, liver and spleen and Type IV in basement
membranes.
Collagen extracted from calfskin and bones are the primary sources of
industrial collagen and have a high risk of bovine spongiform
encephalopathy. To overcome these problems, related to vertebrate
collagen, alternative of marine collagen from skin, bones, fin and
scales of sponges and jellyfishes has been provided. Marine collagen
from Ircinia fusca shows similarity with type I human collagen
and other marine sponges Chondrosia reniformis collagen resembles
type IV human collagen (Panagiotis, 2015). It shows that marine collagen
is having similarities to human collagen and safer alternatives to the
potential harmful bovine-originated collagen. Marine collagen can be
recovered from marine vertebrates, algae, and invertebrates including
jellyfish, sea urchin, Octopus, Squid, Cuttlefish, sea anemone, prawn,
starfish (Barzideh et al., 2014; Jankangram et al., 2016; Langasco et
al., 2017).
Collagen from marine origin has many advantages over higher vertebrate
collagen. It is pure, safe, thermostable, with interconnected porosity,
and has higher denaturation temperature due to more cross-linking
(Panagiotis, 2015). Collagen of Type I is paramount and has huge
applications in biomedical science. Collagen can be structurally
converted into porous sheets and gels. Collagen has a wide application
in cosmetics, drug delivery, surgery, bio-prosthetic implants, food
supplements, and tissue engineering. Collagen appears as a potential
biomaterial as scaffold in corneal, wound healing, dental, vascular
tissue, and corneal damage tissue engineering. Chondrosia
reniformis collagen has an application in preparation of moisturizers.
There is a good evidence for the application of collagen biomaterials in
drug delivery of target drugs to specific body parts (Patra et al.,
2018).
Though collagen has some disadvantages as it can interact with cells and
alter its growth or movement. To overcome this problem in collagen
scaffolds, it is crosslinked with another suitable material. 3D printed
fish collagen scaffold shows biocompatibility with human mesenchymal
cells and fibroblast.
1.3.2. Lectins :
Lectins are the diverse group of carbohydrate-binding proteins that bind
through high affinity and specific molecular sites. These lectins
interact reversibly with high specificity to mono or oligosaccharides
through non-covalent linkages. Lectins can recognize and attach to
specific proteins on various cell types and can identify cell
development stages through flow cytometry, histochemical applications
and lectin microarrays. Lectins can indicate pathological conditions by
identifying altered surface glycoproteins and glycolipids. Lectin has a
multivalent binding site for the sugar moiety. Lectins are associated
with varied taxa of microbes, plants and animals. Marine lectins are
structurally diverse and grouped according to structural similarity of
carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD) into Fucolectin type lectin,
C-type lectins (CTLs), rhamnose binding lectin (RBL) Lily type, Ricin
type and Tectonin type lectins.
Lectin producing marine species are Aphrocallistes vastus,
Axinella polypoides, Geodia cydoniu, Ptilota filicina, Tridacna maxima,
Haliotis laevigata, Megabalanus rosa , Balanus rostratus,
Tachypleus tridentatus, and Cucumaria echinate (Ogawa et al.,
2011), Palmaria palmate, Solieria robusta, Gracilaria verrucosa,
Cystoclonium purpureum, Bryothamnion seaforthii, B.triquetrum, solieria
filiformis, Enantiocladia duperreyi, Amansis multifidi, Hypnea
musciformis, and green algae of genus Codium, Ulva lactuca,
Caulerpa cuperssoides, Entermorpha prolifera, Ulva pertusa, Bryopsis
plumose, Bryopsis hypnoides and marine algal genus Ptilota(Teixeira et al., 2012).
Lectins have shown varied applications in the field of biomedical, drug
delivery systems, diagnostic markers, anticancer drugs, and therapeutic
activities. Cyanobacteria Nostoc ellipsosporum and red algaeGriffithsia sps were used to obtain Anti-HIV and HCV lectins.
Marine lectins have great potential as antiviral drugs against the
transmission of enveloped viruses by preventing viral entry into host
cells. Marine lectin has also shown antiparasitic, immunoenhancing,
immunomodulating, mitogenic, cardiogenesis, and vasorelaxant activities.
In diagnostic application, lectin specificity can be utilized to
differentiate between carcinoma and normal human lymphocytes and
fibroblasts. Altered glycan on cells or tissues surface can be
recognized using lectin-based methods such as biosensors and
histochemistry. Lectin and glycan interaction in biosensors can be
analyzed by signals (Dan et al., 2016).
1.4. Marine peptidoglycan : Chondritin sulfate and hyaluronic
acid are heteropolysaccharides of class glycosaminoglycan.
1.4.1. Chondroitin
Sulfate:
Chondroitin sulfate (CS) is a sulfated polymer of glucoronate and
N-acetylglucosamine linked by β-(1→3) glycosidic linkage. CS are
classified according to attachment of sulfate group on Carbon atom into
CS-A, CS-C, CS-E, CS-D and Cs-B respectively. Marine CS has been
isolated from marine vertebrates including Whale, squid, salmon, skate,
shark, king crab, sea cucumber and marine invertebrates likeCnidaria, Mollusca and Polychaeta . Shark fins of varied
species including Dasyatis akajei, Scyliorhinus torazame, Surus
oxyrinchus, Prionace glauca , Dalatias licha ,Mitsukurina owatoni are used as commercial sources of CS
(Abdallaha et al., 2020).
Marine CS has many advantages as it is non-immunogenic, biocompatible,
non-toxic, anti-inflammatory, and helps in cellular communication.
Marine CS has an application in nerve regeneration, anti-inflammatory,
anti-metastatic activity, tissue engineering scaffolds, anticoagulant
activity, and biosensors. In tissue engineering, it is applied for bone
repair, cartilage, and cutaneous wounds. To control biodegradability CS
can be mixed with other polymers to make scaffolds. CS also has
pharmacological applications such as coating material for implants and
hydrogel in controlled drug release (Benito-Arenas et al., 2019).
1.4.2. Hyaluronic acid
(HA) :
Hyaluronic acid is a natural nonsulfated polysaccharide made up of α-1,4
D glucuronic acid and β-1,3-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, linked by
(1→3)bonds. It is part of intracellular matrix of cartilage, umbilical
cord connective tissue, skeleton and vitreous humor of cartilaginous
fishes and the cell wall of marine bacteria Streptococcus
zooepidemicus (Murado et al., 2012).
The HA activity is dependent on its size (Liao et al., 2005). HA can
hold water molecules and this property of HA gives a large range of
physical, chemical and biological activity such as biocompatibility,
angiogenic, viscoelasticity and immune-stimulation. HA is also having
shock-absorbing activities and acts as a lubricant for joint movement.
In the skin, HA scavenges free radicals generated by the UV rays from
sunlight and prevents cells from oxidative stress. HA has an application
in the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, and live pathologies,
cosmetic fields such as plastic surgery, anti-aging cosmetics, arthritis
treatment intraocular surgery, and drug delivery (Srivastava et al.,
2015; Vázquez et al., 2013). Though data are scarce on biosensors.