Synthetic biology strategies for the production of furanocoumarins

Abstract

[Excerpt] Background: Furanocoumarins are polyphenolic compounds produced in plants as secondary metabolites and with several therapeutic activities. Furanocoumarins such as xanthotoxin and bergapten are known to be used in several severe and difficult to treat cases of vitiligo and psoriasis. However, they are also the first line of treatment for diseases such as mycosis fungoides, the most common type of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Moreover, several clinical trials are ongoing to assess their potential to treat other disorders such as Crohn’s disease or graft versus host disease [1]. Furanocoumarins are obtained from plant extraction with low yields and purities, since they accumulate in low amounts in plants, in an expensive and environmentally unfriendly process. Therefore, more sustainable and profitable methods need to be developed to obtain these interesting compounds in higher amounts and purities. In this work, we explore the use of microorganisms to produce these compounds using synthetic biology approaches. [...]