Microencapsulation and Nanotechnology Treatments to Prevent Proteolytic Diseases of Aquatic Animals

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Although aquaculture is the world's fastest-growing animal food production system, diseases remain a major impediment to the development and expansion of environmentally safe and sustainable aquaculture in the United States. Pathogenic fungal and bacterial infections of eggs, skin, and gills continue to kill millions of fish every year. At this time, there are no vaccines available to prevent fungal infections and only a limited number of commercial vaccines against bacterial diseases. Traditional antifungal chemical treatments have potentially serious human health and/or aquatic ecosystem impacts, as well as regulatory constraints. This project investigates the feasibility of addressing these problems through a two-pronged synergistic approach. One component would treat or protect the host animal directly using naturally-occurring materials, while the second component would use nanoparticle-based treatments that would inactivate harmful processes unique to fungal and bacterial pathogens. A variety of effective disease treatments could emerge from this work that involve only one or both of these components. For example, a prototype product will be evaluated that will incorporate both components into one protective system. This product could be mixed with live fish eggs in egg-hatching containers in both public and private sector aquaculture facilities. If successful, our new nanoparticle platform technology will significantly enhance the competitiveness and sustainability of American agriculture in rural areas that produce farmed fish or shrimp by reducing the losses caused by infectious diseases without harming the environment or sensitive organisms in the receiving water.

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APPROACH: The work plan and methods build upon recent advances in nanotechnology, microparticle chemistry, and innovative proprietary research conducted by ProFishent, Inc. and its collaborators. The approach for this Phase I project is to carry out a set of overlapping tasks that culminate in the selection of 6 novel treatment systems for further development and testing during a proposed Phase II effort. The first task will be the development of an in vitro fungal pathogen susceptibility model. The second task involves linking antifungal compounds to nanoparticles and evaluating their effect on fungal pathogens. The next two tasks encompass the creation of treatments designed to release both antifungal materials and other protective materials. The fifth task is to evaluate the inactivation potential of our formulations using live fish eggs. The sixth task is to select and link nanoparticles to antibacterial compounds such as enzyme inhibitors and test the effect on bacterial pathogens of fish. The seventh task involves the selection and linking of nanoparticles to proteins from a model bacterial pathogen of fish. This would be the first step in developing a new type of antibacterial vaccine. If this task is successful, additional vaccine in vivo testing and forumulation optimization would be proposed in a Phase II project. Preliminary safety, side effect, and toxicity testing comprise the eighth task. The ninth task is the selection of 3 antifungal egg treatments and 3 antibacterial particle formulations based upon the data gathered up to this point. The final task is a preliminary economic evaluation of the highest ranked prototype products.