MSc Shanice Olanipekun

Field of research

Cannabinoids are secondary metabolites derived from Cannabis sativa that exhibit anti-inflammatory, psychoactive, anti-schizophrenic and pain-relieving effects (Akhtar et al. 2016, Gülck et al. 2020). Due to their capacity to act on the human endocannabinoid system, these compounds possess significant pharmaceutical value. Glycosylation represents a potential route to enhanced pharmaceutical applications for cannabinoids in products (Akhtar et al. 2016). Glycosylation results in the formation of more polar molecules, as well as an increase in solubility and activity (Yueyang Feng et al. 2020). This project employs Saccharomyces cerevisiae for the glycosylation of cannabinoids. The utilization of heterologous organisms for biotransformation offers the advantage of cost-effectiveness and the ability to produce large quantities of the desired product in a short period of time (Gülck et al. 2020). Metabolic engineering will be employed to optimize the process of glycosylation within this organism, with the primary aim of achieving higher yields of glycosylated cannabinoids.