Phytoplankton are complex living organisms that have attracted significant interest in the field of biomedicine. One subclass of phytoplankton, the diatoms, produce elegant self-assembled siliceous architectural features with a complex 3D porous structure. Diatoms are characterized by a distinct 3D architecture of silica cell walls called frustules with a highly ordered nano-/micropore structure and pattern. Another phytoplankton subclass of interest is the coccolithophore, which produces unique calcium carbonate plates with distinct architectural features called coccoliths. The unique morphological characteristics of coccoliths resembling the shape of a wagon wheel allows a higher surface area, thus an increased amount of immobilized therapeutic agent on their surface compared to a synthetic calcium carbonate microparticle. This review offers a summary of phytoplankton (microalgae) and their potential for application in drug delivery, diagnostics, drug discovery, as molecular factories, and as scaffolds for various therapeutic applications.
In article number https://doi.org/10.1002/adtp.201800099, Mihai Lomora, Abhay Pandit and co‐workers summarize a range of therapeutic applications involving various phytoplankton. Intricate structures are harvested from microalgae for surface functionalization as carrier systems for drug delivery, in diagnostics, or cell anchoring. Phytoplankton represent a rich source of metabolites allowing the discovery of bioactive compounds, or as a source of oxygen for autotrophic tissue engineering.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.