This text is part of the special Research section
To understand lung inflammation induced by infection, Quebec researchers and a marine biotechnology company from Rimouski are developing new tools based on seaweed.
A virus enters the body. Inflammation attempts to destroy the intruder: this is the body’s first defense reaction. But in the case of COVID-19, the inflammatory response can be derailed. “With COVID, the immune response does not stop and we do not understand why. [Or], the inflammation can cause significant damage, not only to the virus, but also to the cells,” explains Réjean Tremblay, professor at the Institut des sciences de la mer de Rimouski (ISMER). The latter is at the head of a research project to dissect, at the molecular level, the mechanisms of this crazy inflammatory race.
Researchers are particularly interested in a fatty acid, arachidonic acid, which can trigger uncontrollable inflammation in the presence of the coronavirus. To understand the cascade of reactions induced by this molecule, it is possible to create very precise images using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), a technique also widely used in medical imaging and mass spectrometry.
To do this, isotopes such as carbon 13 are used as “image developers”. “We have our lung cells which have arachidonic acid enriched in carbon 13, details the professor. Arachidonic acid will end up being cleaved and used in different types of metabolites, always enriched in carbon 13. If we stimulate inflammation in our lung cells, we are able to follow this carbon 13 everywhere. »
The problem is that it is not so easy to produce these kinds of isotopes. To meet this challenge, a company from Rimouski, as well as researchers from the University of Quebec in Rimouski (UQAR) and the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM) are developing a new approach. To produce these isotopes, they use original little organic factories: microalgae.
The potential of algae
In the UQAR-ISMER aquaculture station, technicians manipulate the amount of air in large flasks of different shades of green: these are nurseries for various species of microalgae.
“For the production of enriched microalgae, much more complex systems are used where all culture parameters are constantly monitored to maintain optimal culture conditions. These are called photobioreactors,” says the researcher. Luckily, researchers can rely on the expertise of Iso-BioKem, a start-up of Rimouski, which has developed expertise in the production of stable isotopes through the cultivation of microalgae in photobioreactors.
During their growth, algae incorporate the isotopes of their culture medium into their structure. “Microalgae are small factories that produce biomolecules,” says Mr. Tremblay. Depending on the species, particular fatty acids or pigments can be produced, which can then be used in different projects. »
Certain algae “fed” with carbon 13 will thus produce arachidonic acid enriched in isotopes. Once extracted from the algae, the fatty acid will then be transferred to the lung cell culture media. In their growth, the cells will use this enriched molecule in the manufacture of their membranes.
Interesting spinoffs
If we stimulate this arachidonic acid, how will the inflammatory process take place in these cells? How, at the molecular level, do different types of drugs act on the inflammatory process of COVID-19? Thanks to their new approach, the researchers hope to provide some answers to these questions.
“ISMER is very oriented towards oceanography, it opens up new avenues for the development of tools for human health,” says Réjean Tremblay. I think it’s going to have some interesting spinoffs. »
At present, the Iso-BioKem company has good control over the production of three types of isotopes, he points out. In university laboratories, we began to make cultures of human lung cells. The next step is to enrich these cells with isotopes and study the inflammatory processes, calculates the researcher.
The research, funded to the tune of $180,000 by NSERC, will continue until the end of 2023.