# Botanical Core

> **NIH NIH U19** · UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI · 2020 · $264,660

## Abstract

BOTANICAL CORE: ABSTRACT/SUMMARY 
The overall purpose of the Botanical Core of the proposed University of Mississippi (UM) Botanical Dietary 
Supplements Research Center (BDSRC) is to ensure product integrity and advance chemistry research on the 
Spirulina-based product, Immulina™, using a combination of bioassay- and chemical-based approaches. 
Researchers affiliated with the proposed UM BDSRC have generated evidence that supports reproducible and 
mechanistically plausible effects of Immulina™ for enhancing host responses that may promote resilience 
against respiratory viral infections such as influenza which resulted in 959,000 patient hospitalizations and 
79,400 deaths in United States alone. 
The Botanical Core will be headed by Amar Chittiboyina, PhD, a medicinal chemist with extensive research 
experience in natural product chemistry as well as standardization methodologies. 
The specific aims of the Botanical Core are to: 
1. Ensure the unambiguous identification and develop additional safety testing on Arthrospira (Spirulina) 
 platensis raw material that will be used in the production of sufficient quantities of Immulina™ for the 
 proposed research projects; 
2. Develop and validate a selective in vitro bioassay for quantitation of the toll-like receptor 2-dependent 
 activity exhibited by the Braun-type lipoproteins in Immulina™; 
3. Advance chemistry research on Immulina™ by establishing chemical-based authentication and 
 standardization approaches, characterization of immune-inhibitory substances and detailed structural 
 analysis of the active immune-enhancing Braun-type lipoproteins; and 
4. Perform additional stability studies, provide sufficient quantities of well-characterized and safe 
 ImmulinaTM for use in the proposed UM BDSRC research projects, and explore collaborative 
 opportunities with other CARBON units. 
Expected outcomes include (1) achieving a higher level of product integrity and quality assurance of 
Immulina™ used in the proposed UM BDSRC projects; (2) design of an improved biological standardization 
method that will selectively detect only TLR2 agonists such as the Braun-type lipoproteins in Immulina™; (3) 
providing chemical-based authentication and standardization methods that will complement the bioassay- 
based standardization method and provide a robust system to fully characterize Immulina™ product material; 
and (4) to provide sufficient quantities of standardized Immulina™ working closely with other researchers from 
the UM BDSRC and collaborating with other units of CARBON on future efficacy studies of ImmulinaTM.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9916574
- **Project number:** 1U19AT010838-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI
- **Principal Investigator:** Amar G. Chittiboyina
- **Activity code:** U19 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $264,660
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-07-01 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9916574

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9916574, Botanical Core (1U19AT010838-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9916574. Licensed CC0.

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