<p>Drug transport across the intestinal epithelium is roughly predicted from permeability values obtained from Caco-2 cell monolayers. This thesis examines the important role of <i>pH</i> and extracellular additives for increasing the reliability and predictivity of the <i>in vitro</i> screening system, Caco-2.</p><p>It was shown that the passive transport of ionizable compounds may be biased by a false efflux or uptake component, when applying a physiological <i>pH</i>-gradient across the membrane. <i>pH</i> also affected the amount of compound available at the transporter-binding site. Therefore, <i>pH</i> dependence should be considered in studies of such compounds and of drug-drug interactions involving efflux transporters. It was also shown that proton-dependent apical uptake or basolateral efflux should be studied both with and without a <i>pH</i> gradient over the whole monolayers. </p><p>The two extracellular additives, bovine serum albumin (BSA) and the solubilizing agent, Cremophor^® EL, also influenced Caco-2 permeabilities. BSA applied to the receiver side increases, and to the donor side decreases drug permeation according to the drug’s protein binding capacity. Thus, the absorptive transport for both passive and active compounds is favoured, giving a physiologically sound improvement of the Caco-2 cell model. Inclusion of BSA increased both the predictivity and quality of permeability studies, particularly of highly lipophilic, BCS class II compounds. Passive and active transport processes could also be distinguished after accounting for unbound concentrations. The overall effect of Cremophor^® EL on the permeability to a drug was compound-specific and probably dependent on micellar incorporation. Cremophor^® EL can therefore not be recommended. </p><p>Neither <i>pH</i> nor BSA affect the functionality of transporters such as P-glycoprotein. However, efflux ratios of ionizable or protein bound drugs are altered in the presence of a <i>pH</i>-gradient or BSA, indicating that an experimental system without protein or <i>pH</i> gradient can over- or underestimate active and passive efflux in drug transport.</p>

In this thesis, the structure and stability of globular proteins adsorbed onto nanometer-sized hydrophilic silica particles were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), hydrogen/deuterium exchange (HDX), and mass spectrometry (MS). The adsorption process itself was characterized with fluorescence and absorption spectroscopy and surface plasmon resonance (SPR). The combination of these methods offered a unique insight into adsorption-induced changes within proteins related to their adsorption characteristics. DSC contributed with thermodynamic information on the overall structural stability within the protein population. HDX in combination with MS contributed information on the structure and stability of adsorbed proteins with focus on changes within the secondary structure elements. In order to increase the structural resolution in this part of the investigation, proteolysis was performed prior to the MS analyzing step. Knowledge on the protein adsorption process was utilized in a practical approach called ligand fishing. In this approach, SPR was used to monitor the chip-based affinity purification of a protein with MS used for protein identification. Adsorption isotherms revealed that electrostatic interactions play an important role in the adsorption of proteins to hydrophilic surfaces. DSC investigation revealed that the thermal stability of proteins reduces with increasing electrostatic attraction between the protein and the surface and that this effect diminishes at higher surface coverage. The mass-increase due to exchange between protein hydrogen atoms and deuterium atoms in solution was investigated as a function of time. This gave insight into adsorption-induced changes in the structural stability of proteins. By combining DSC and HDX-MS, it was possible to differentiate between adsorption-induced changes in the secondary and tertiary structure. Additionally, if limited proteolysis was performed, the investigations gave insight into the orientation and protein segment specific changes in the stability of proteins adsorbed to silica surfaces. The adsorption of proteins to silica particles also provided the basis for a new experimental design that allows handling of minute amounts of proteins in a ligand fishing application, as used in the field of functional proteomics.

With increasing environmental awareness and natural resource limitations, researchers must begin to incorporate sustainability into their process and product designs. One target for green engineering is in reaction and separation design. This is typically done in a wasteful and often toxic manner with organic solvents and lack of recycle. The following thesis discusses alternatives to these costly separations by means of ionic liquids, benign extraction, separation with carbon dioxide, and near critical water. Ionic liquids are combined with carbon dioxide to induce melting point depressions of up to 124 degrees Celsius. Using this system as a reaction medium will offer control over the reaction phases while utilizing green solvents. Benign extractions are performed on both ferulic acid and on proteins from biomass by replacing alkaline solvents and costly protein separation techniques with simple liquid-liquid extraction. This means simpler systems and less waste than from previous methods. This thesis also discusses an opportunity for more efficient separation and recycle of a pharmaceutical catalyst, Mn-Salen. Using carbon dioxide with the organic aqueous tunable solvent system, the reaction can be run homogeneously and the product and catalyst separated heterogeneously, thus creating an extremely efficient process. Lastly, near critical water is used as an extraction and reaction medium by extracting ferulic acid from Brewers Spent Grain and then catalyzing its transformation to 4-vinylguaiacol. In this manner a simple, benign process is used to turn waste into valuable chemicals. Although somewhat different, each of the studied processes strives to eliminate waste and toxicity of many commonly used reaction and separation techniques, thus creating safe and sustainable processes.

Drug transport across the intestinal epithelium is roughly predicted from permeability values obtained from Caco-2 cell monolayers. This thesis examines the important role of pH and extracellular additives for increasing the reliability and predictivity of the in vitro screening system, Caco-2. It was shown that the passive transport of ionizable compounds may be biased by a false efflux or uptake component, when applying a physiological pH-gradient across the membrane. pH also affected the amount of compound available at the transporter-binding site. Therefore, pH dependence should be considered in studies of such compounds and of drug-drug interactions involving efflux transporters. It was also shown that proton-dependent apical uptake or basolateral efflux should be studied both with and without a pH gradient over the whole monolayers. The two extracellular additives, bovine serum albumin (BSA) and the solubilizing agent, Cremophor® EL, also influenced Caco-2 permeabilities. BSA applied to the receiver side increases, and to the donor side decreases drug permeation according to the drug’s protein binding capacity. Thus, the absorptive transport for both passive and active compounds is favoured, giving a physiologically sound improvement of the Caco-2 cell model. Inclusion of BSA increased both the predictivity and quality of permeability studies, particularly of highly lipophilic, BCS class II compounds. Passive and active transport processes could also be distinguished after accounting for unbound concentrations. The overall effect of Cremophor® EL on the permeability to a drug was compound-specific and probably dependent on micellar incorporation. Cremophor® EL can therefore not be recommended. Neither pH nor BSA affect the functionality of transporters such as P-glycoprotein. However, efflux ratios of ionizable or protein bound drugs are altered in the presence of a pH-gradient or BSA, indicating that an experimental system without protein or pH gradient can over- or underestimate active and passive efflux in drug transport.

Particles and macromolecular components, including biopolymers (protein and carbohydrate), are viewed as the main foulants in the complex feed submerged membrane filtration systems such as membrane bioreactor (MBR). This work focused on two aspects of fouling in complex fluids: 1- Assessing fouling propensity and mechanisms for various model solutions. 2- Using of two specific solutions modelling biomass found in MBR for a better understanding of the fouling mechanisms in submerged MBR processes. Filtrations were carried out with 0.22 ??m PVDF hollow fibre membrane. Alginate was used as a model for polysaccharide, bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a model for protein, (un)washed yeast and bentonite were representing suspended solid contents. According to the data obtained during this study the fouling propensity of each model solution was classified as follow in a decreasing order: Alginate &gt unwashed yeast &gt washed yeast &gt BSA &gt bentonite for one-component solutions; and Alginate-washed yeast &gt Alginate-BSA &gt Alginate-bentonite &gt Alginate-unwashed yeast for two-component solutions. Introducing the alginate increased the reversible fouling (except BSA). Passive adsorption had a significant effect on fouling of alginate even before the beginning of the filtration. Washed yeast and a mixture of washed yeast + BSA were then used as model solutions to simulate the activated sludge found in MBR. The concentration of washed yeast and BSA used in this study were calculated in order for the characterisations of the two model solution to match (in terms of biopolymer contents) those of MBR biomasses reported in the literature. By rinsing, backwashing and chemical cleaning of the membrane, three fouling layers of upper, intermediate and lower were defined respectively. Results obtained from the analysis of the biopolymers found in the cleaning solutions allow a better understanding of the fouling mechanisms occurring for the two model solutions used in this study: for washed yeast, the lower layer and for washed yeast + BSA , the upper and intermediate layers were found to have relatively high biopolymeric composition. This was explained by higher concentration of solids on the membrane surface and by higher biopolymer interactions when washed yeast was mixed with BSA.

Submitted by Aelson Maciera (aelsoncm@terra.com.br) on 2017-10-06T18:08:45Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DissACP.pdf: 6605106 bytes, checksum: c63dcdec106579e271edaa4dc5a8bdcf (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ronildo Prado (bco.producao.intelectual@gmail.com) on 2017-11-28T12:14:39Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DissACP.pdf: 6605106 bytes, checksum: c63dcdec106579e271edaa4dc5a8bdcf (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ronildo Prado (bco.producao.intelectual@gmail.com) on 2017-11-28T12:14:55Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DissACP.pdf: 6605106 bytes, checksum: c63dcdec106579e271edaa4dc5a8bdcf (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-11-28T12:26:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DissACP.pdf: 6605106 bytes, checksum: c63dcdec106579e271edaa4dc5a8bdcf (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-24 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Nowadays, cancer is one of the most feared diseases, affecting each day more and more people worldwide. The importance of new cancer treatment researches is very clear since the ones that has been used are not very effective and may lead to drug resistance, implying in a constant dose increasing which can lead to toxicity issues. Collateral effects and the instability generated in the patient’s organism are also reasons why the necessity of discovering new cancer treatments is imminent. A treatment alternative that has aroused interest is the use of monoclonal antibodies as immunotherapics, since they act by stimulating the patient’s immune system neutralizing the tumor cells in a very efficient and specific way. This kind of antibody can be produced by culturing hybrid animal cells, better known as hybridoma, under strictly controlled conditions so they can be studied and used in human beings. For this reason, the major goal of this project was the production of murine monoclonal antibodies using hybridoma cell culture in order to stablish an efficient culture methodology for hybridomas PC-61 or DTA1 producers of monoclonal antibodies anti-CD25 and anti-GITR, respectively, with high quality and enough amounts using Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS) free medium to, in the future, carry out animal model studies of their potential as therapeutic agents for cancer treatment. Both hybridomas were cultivated on a small scale with RPMI medium and addition of SFB, for comparative purposes and only one was selcted for the second step. The sequential adaptation methodology test, consisted in a gradual percent’s reduction of medium with serum at the same time that increase the percentage of commercial medium without serum, and was selected the medium without SFB in which the hybridoma was better adapted. After was carried out on a laboratory scale in a system type spinner flask (500 ml) with the commercial medium selected in the previous step, in controlled conditions of temperature (37 ° C) and pH (7.2). Based on analyzes of cell culture results, amino acid consumption and monoclonal antibodies quantification , SFM commercial medium SFB-free provided better results for culturing the PC-61 hybridoma, allowing the pilot scale culture reached even higher cell densities than in the standard medium with addition of FBS. / O câncer é uma das doenças mais temidas da atualidade, e atinge cada vez mais pessoas em todo o mundo. A importância de pesquisas sobre novos tratamentos na luta contra o câncer é clara e consensual, uma vez que os que vem sendo utilizados, não são muito eficientes, causam resistência à medicação utilizada o que implica na utilização de doses crescentes que por sua vez podem gerar problemas de toxicidade. Os efeitos colaterais e a instabilidade gerada no organismo do paciente, também são fatores da necessidade de pesquisar novos caminhos para o tratamento do câncer. Uma das alternativas de tratamento que tem despertado interesse é a utilização de anticorpos monoclonais (mAbs) como imunoterápicos, os quais agem estimulando o próprio sistema imune do paciente neutralizando a ação das células tumorais de forma eficiente e específica. A produção de tais anticorpos pode ser feita mediante o cultivo de células animais híbridas, mais conhecidas como hibridomas, sobre condições estritamente controladas para que possam ser estudados e utilizados em humanos. Por essa razão definiu-se como objetivo desse trabalho a produção anticorpos monoclonais murinos por meio de cultivo de hibridomas com a finalidade de estabelecer uma metodologia eficiente de cultivo dos hibridomas PC-61 ou DTA1 secretores dos mAbs anti-CD25 e antiGITR respectivamente, com qualidade e em quantidades suficientes utilizando meios livres de soro fetal bovino (SFB), para a seguir efetuar estudos em modelo animal de seu potencial como agentes terapêuticos no tratamento de câncer. Os dois hibridomas foram cultivados em pequena escala utilizando meio RPMI-1640 e adição de SFB, para fins comparativos e somente um foi selecionado para a próxima etapa. O teste da metodologia de adaptação sequencial, onde houve a redução gradativa da porcentagem de meio RPMI-1640 com 10% de SFB e o aumento da porcentagem de meio comercial sem SFB, e foi selecionado o meio livre de SFB em que o hibridoma melhor se adaptou. Posteriormente foi realizado o cultivo do hibridoma em escala laboratorial em sistema de frasco agitado biorreator do tipo Spinner (500 mL) com o meio livre de SFB selecionado na etapa anterior, sob condições bem controladas de temperatura (37ºC), pH (7,2). Com base nas análises dos resultados dos cultivos celulares, metabolismo de aminoácidos e quantificação de mAbs, o meio comercial SFM livre de SFB proporcionou melhor resultados para o cultivo do hibridoma PC-61, permitindo que o cultivo em escala laboratorial atingisse densidades celulares ainda maiores que no meio padrão com adição de SFB. Como consequência desse vasto crescimento celular em quantidades abundantes de mAbs foram conseguidas para iniciar num futuro próximo ensaios em modelos animais.

Orientadores: Carlos Francisco Sampaio Bonafé, Claudio Chrysostomo Werneck / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-19T01:47:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Norberto_DouglasRicardo_D.pdf: 1634322 bytes, checksum: 288f08df151602db46da98bf9d58476f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011 / Resumo: Ureia desnatura proteínas em diferentes concentrações, dependendo das condições experimentais e da proteína. A proteína monomérica soro albumina bovina (BSA) foi o principal modelo de investigação na presença de concentrações subdesnaturantes de ureia com base no modelo de equilíbrio de dois estados. A desnaturação induzida por alta pressão foi intensificada em concentrações de ureia ( [U] ) entre 3,5 M e 8,0 M, com variação de energia livre à pressão atmosférica (?Gº[U]) de +5,0 a -2,5 kJ/mol de BSA, e variação do volume de desnaturação (?V) de -30 a -36 mL/mol de BSA. Os parâmetros m apresentaram caráter bifásico, com valores de m1 e m2 de 0,92 e 2,35 kJ.mol-1.M-1, respectivamente. A partir de gráficos da variação de com relação à foram obtidos valores de , o coeficiente estequiométrico aparente do agente desnaturante, de 1,68 e 6,67 mol de ureia/mol de BSA, respectivamente v1 e v2, correspondentes à m1 e m2. Estes resultados foram comparados com os de outras proteínas monoméricas da literatura e com um conjunto de dados da SNase ?+PHS I92A e estequiometrias sistematicamente baixas foram observadas. No entanto, um valor de 140 mols de ureia/mol de BSA pode ser alcançado a partir de abordagem que considera a existência de uma população heterogênea com respeito a energia livre de desnaturação e aspectos moleculares da interação proteína-solvente puderam ser melhor interpretados / Abstract: Urea denatures proteins at different concentrations, depending on the experimental conditions and the protein. We investigated the pressure-induced denaturation of bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a model in the presence of subdenaturing concentrations of urea based on a two-state equilibrium model. Pressure-induced denaturation was enhanced at urea concentrations ([U]) of 3.5 M to 8.0 M, with the free energy of denaturation at atmospheric pressure (?Gº[U]) ranging from +5.0 to -2.5 kJ/mol of BSA while the volume change ranged from -30 to -36 mL/mol of BSA. The m values appeared to be biphasic, with m1 and m2 of 0.92 and 2.35 kJ.mol-1.M-1, respectively. Plots of ?Gº[U] versu ln[U] yielded values of v , the apparent stoichiometric coefficient, of 1.68 and 6.67 mol of urea/mol of BSA respectively for m1 and m2. These results were compared with the m and values of other monomeric proteins reported from the literature and of SNase ?+PHS I92A and the very low values of were systematically observed. However, a value of 140 moles of urea/mole of BSA could be reached by considering the existence of a heterogeneous molecular population with respect to the free energy of denaturation and the molecular binding aspects could be better interpreted / Doutorado / Bioquimica / Doutor em Biologia Funcional e Molecular

Interaction between bovine serum albumin (BSA) and thimerosal (TM), organic mercury compound, was investigated by spectroscopic methods. The results, by molecular fluorescence, show that the interaction takes place by static quenching with electrostatic forces spontaneously (ΔG = - 4.40 kJ mol-1 at 30°C). The binding constant (Kb) was 3.24 ± 0.01x103 L mol-1 (30°C) is considered a moderate interaction. Fluorescence in three dimensions revealed that TM causes structural involving the the polypeptide chain BSA changes in the polarity of the tryptophan and tyrosine residues confirmed by circular dichroism (CD) showed an increase in α-helix content after interaction with TM. In addition, the TM decreases the surface hydrophobicity of the protein. Bilirubin was used as a marker for the subdomain IB, confirming that TM interacts in this region of the protein. The study of the interaction mechanism proposed that TM is reacted with BSA through the free cysteine residue, forming the adduct BSA-HgEt release of thiosalicylic acid (ATS), which interacts with amino acids with side chain positive. Besides, it was seen that TM accelerates the protein fibrillation kinetics by 42%, with a possible indication of the toxicity of this compound in biological systems. / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / A interação entre albumina do soro bovino (BSA) e timerosal (TM), composto orgânico de mercúrio, foi investigada utilizando métodos espectroscópicos. Os resultados, por fluorescência molecular, evidenciam que a interação acontece por quenching estático através de forças eletrostáticas de forma espontânea (ΔG = - 4,40 kJ mol-1 a 30ºC). A constante de ligação (Kb) foi de 3,24 ± 0,01x103 L mol-1 (30ºC) sendo considerada uma interação moderada. A fluorescência em três dimensões revelou que TM causa mudanças estruturais envolvendo a cadeia polipeptídica da BSA assim como altera a polaridade dos resíduos de triptofano e tirosina, confirmada por dicroísmo circular (DC) que evidenciou aumento no conteúdo de α-hélice após interação com TM. Além disto, TM diminui a hidrofobicidade superficial da proteína. Bilirrubina foi utilizada como marcador para o subdomínio IB, confirmando que TM interage nesta região da proteína. O estudo do mecanismo de interação propôs que TM reage com BSA através do resíduo de cisteína livre, formando o aduto BSA-HgEt com liberação de ácido tiosalicílico (ATS), que interage com os aminoácidos com cadeia lateral positiva. Por fim, foi visto que TM acelera a cinética de fibrilação proteica em 42%, sendo um possível indício da toxicidade deste composto em sistemas biológicos.

This thesis is focused on synthesis of quantum dots (QDs) for protein detection. It comprises three parts. The first part summaries the theory of QDs, their synthesis, functionalization, interactions and applications in medicine. In the second part synthesis of CdTe/ZnS core/shell QDs modified by glutathione (GSH) is described, followed by the conjugation with biomolecules BSA and IgG. Several coupling agents such as EDC with NHS and CDI were used. In the last part, the final products were characterized by fluorescence spectroscopy and capillary electrophoresis. The results show the dependence of the fluorescence intensity of the QDs on pH range, concentration of BSA and IgG concentrations using different crosslinkers.

This master’s thesis describes mechanism of lubricating film forming and its thickness in contact of a metal hip joint ball and a glass disc with chromium layer with presence of bovine serum as substitute of synovial fluid occured in a natural joint. Lubricating film thickness is evaluated by a thin film colorimetric interferometry, results are ploted at graphs representing dependence of lubricating film thickness on experiment duration or on mutual speed of articulating surfaces. There is described the influence of concentration of bovine serum and different kinematic conditions on lubricating film forming. From observed interferograms is apparent the adsorption of proteins to glass disc and femoral head surfaces, denaturation and formation of protein aggregations affecting the residual lubricating film thickness.