Microbial Cell Factories for the Synthesis of Sustainable Biomaterials Latex - Based

Hevea brasiliensis is the main source of natural rubber (NR), a critical material for many industrial and biomedical applications due to its excellent mechanical properties. However, NR production presents several challenges, including environmental impacts, allergenic proteins, and vulnerabilities in its supply chain, emphasizing the need for sustainable alternatives. A dual strategy will be used in this project to overcome these limitations: developing an electrospinning procedure that can be reproduced for biomaterials based on NR, and examining the microbial biosynthesis of polyisoprene as an eco-friendly latex substitute. NR/PVA nanofibrous biomaterials were successfully produced. The resulting materials were tested on Normal Human Dermal Fibroblasts (NHDF) cells that indicated good biocompatibility, indicating their potential for application in regenerative medicine. In the second step, the cis-1,4-polysoprene biosynthetic pathway was reconstructed in Escherichia coli through heterologous expression of the key proteins, HRT2 and SRPP. Despite successful expression, the proteins were mainly insoluble, in inclusion bodies, probably due to the absence of lipid structures essential for biosynthesis in bacterial systems. In conclusion, this study highlights the advantages and limitations of electrospinning and microbial biosynthesis approaches for the development of sustainable biomaterials. NR/PVA electrospun scaffolds are biocompatible and making them potential candidates for biomedical applications. However, further interdisciplinary work is needed to overcome critical issues in microbial engineering as an alternative source for polymer synthesis.