Perfusion operation mode is currently under fast expansion in mammalian cell based manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals, not only for labile drug protein but also for stable proteins such as monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). Perfusion mode can advantageously offer a stable cell environment, long-term production with high productivity and consistent product quality. Intensified high cell density culture (HCDC) is certainly one of the most attractive features of a perfusion process due to the high volumetric productivity in a small footprint that it can provide. Advancements in single-use technology have alleviated the intrinsic complexity of perfusion processes while the maturing in cell retention devices has improved process robustness. The knowledge for perfusion process has been gradually built and the “continuous” concept is getting more and more acceptance in the field. This thesis presents the development of robust perfusion process at very high cell densities in various culture systems. Four HCDC perfusion systems were developed with industrial collaborators with three different mAb producing Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cell lines: 1-2) WAVE Bioreactor™ Cellbag prototype equipped with cell separation by hollow fiber filter utilizing Alternating Tangential Flow (ATF) and Tangential Flow Filtration (TFF) techniques; 3) Fiber matrix based CellTank™ prototype; 4) Glass stirred tank bioreactor equipped with ATF. In all the systems, extremely high viable cell densities above 130 million viable cells per milliliter (MVC/mL) up to 214 MVC/mL were achieved. Steady states were maintained and studied at 20-30 MVC/mL and 100-130 MVC/mL for process development. Perfusion rate selection based on cell specific perfusion rate (CSPR) was systematically investigated and exometabolome study was performed to explore the metabolic footprint of HCDC perfusion process. / <p>QC 20170523</p>

Currently, the only cure for liver failure is orthotopic liver transplantation. However, there are insufficient donor organs available to treat every patient on the transplant list and many die before they are able to receive a liver transplant. The bioartificial liver (BAL) device is a potential extracorporeal treatment strategy utilising hepatocytes or hepatocyte-like cells (HLCs) within a bioreactor to recapitulate normal liver function and therefore ‘bridge’ a patient with liver failure until they receive a transplant. The work in this thesis utilised tissue engineering methods to develop novel approaches to BAL device design through development and characterisation of a polymer membrane scaffold (“PX”) for hollow fibre bioreactor (HFB) culture and a HLC source generated from the transdifferentiation of pancreatic AR42J-B13 (B13) cells. A flat sheet membrane model was used for the development of asymmetrical, hydrophobic polystyrene (PS) phase inversion membranes. Oxygen plasma significantly increased PS membrane surface wettability through addition of oxygen functional groups to create an environment conducive for cell culture. The treated membrane was henceforth referred to as “PX”. The culture medium HepatoZYME+ was investigated for its ability to induce transdifferentiation of B13 cells to HLCs and maintain the hepatic phenotype. Overall, HepatoZYME+-cultured cells experienced viability loss. A diluted version, “50:50”, showed induction of the hepatic markers carbamoylphosphate synthetase-1 (CPS-1) and HNF4α, as well as a change towards a HLC morphology. When using 50:50 as a maintenance medium, transdifferentiated HLCs retained loss of pancreatic amylase and also induction of hepatic markers, with comparable serum albumin secretion to the established Dex + OSM treatment. However, culture viability in 50:50 was still compromised. Therefore, HepatoZYME+ based media were deemed unsuitable for induction and maintenance compared to Dex-based protocols. PX flat sheet membranes were able to support culture of B13 cells and also the human osteosarcoma cell line, MG63, demonstrating improved cell attachment over non-surface treated PS membranes. PX membranes supported transdifferentiation of B13 cells to HLCs, presenting with loss of pancreatic amylase, induction of the hepatic markers transferrin, GS and CPS-1 and serum albumin secretion. Furthermore, PX showed no change in mass or loss of culture surface area over 15 days in culture conditions. Together, the novel membrane material and the media formulation and feeding regime developed have strong potential to be translated to a HFB setting and guide future BAL device design.

A microextração em fase líquida com membranas cilíndricas ocas (HF-LPME) é uma técnica bastante interessante de preparação de amostras, uma vez que com pequenas quantidades de solventes orgânicos é possível a extração dos analitos presentes em matrizes complexas. Sendo assim, essa técnica foi empregada para extração da venlafaxina (VEN) e seus metabólitos em fração microssomal de fígado de ratos e plasma, visando o desenvolvimento de métodos para análise enantiosseletiva desses analitos. Esses métodos foram então empregados em um estudo in vitro de biotransformação da VEN e em um estudo piloto de disposição cinética em ratos e humanos. A VEN é um fármaco quiral empregado no tratamento da depressão, cujas propriedades farmacocinéticas e farmacodinâmicas são estereosseletivas. Após a otimização das condições de extração por HF-LPME, foram obtidas recuperações de 12-60%. O método empregado no estudo in vitro de biotransformação da VEN foi desenvolvido usando a coluna ChiralpaK AD®, fase móvel composta por hexano : 2-propanol (95:5, v/v) + 0,025% de dietilamina (DEA) e detecção por absorção no UV. A coluna ChiralpaK AD-H® e a fase móvel composta por metanol : etanol (70:30, v/v) + 0,025% de DEA foram empregadas para análise da VEN e seus metabólitos em plasma. Para esse método, empregou-se a detecção por espectrometria de massas visando à obtenção de menores limites de quantificação. O método empregado para a determinação da VEN e de seus metabólitos em fração microssomal de fígado de ratos foi linear no intervalo de 200 a 5000 ng mL-1 e o método empregado para a determinação da VEN e de seus metabólitos em amostras de plasma foi linear no intervalo de 5 a 500 ng mL-1. Os métodos analíticos desenvolvidos para determinação da VEN e seus metabólitos nas matrizes biológicas foram aplicados em estudos de biotransformação in vitro e em estudos de disposição cinética em duas espécies (ratos e humanos). O objetivo destes estudos foi avaliar a correlação da biotransformação entre as diferentes espécies avaliadas e comparar os resultados obtidos nos estudos in vitro com os verificados nos estudos in vivo. Os resultados dos estudos empregando fração microssomal de fígado de ratos são semelhantes aos obtidos no estudo de disposição cinética em ratos, com formação mais pronunciada da Ndesmetilvenlafaxina (N-VEN) e com produção prioritária do enantiômero (-)-(R). Comparando-se os estudos de disposição cinética em ratos e humanos, observa-se enantiosseletividade na biotransformação da VEN com a (-)-(R)-VEN sendo preferencialmente biotransformada. Entretanto, em humanos observa-se que a (-)- (R)-O-desmetilvenlafaxina ((-)-(R)-O-VEN) é formada em maior proporção enquanto que, em ratos, a (-)-(R)-N-VEN é preferencialmente formada. / Hollow Fiber-Liquid Phase Microextraction (HF-LPME) is a very interesting technique for sample preparation, since it uses small amounts of organic solvents to extract drugs present in complex matrices. Thus, this technique was employed for the extraction of venlafaxine (VEN) and its metabolites from rat liver microsomal fraction and plasma, aiming the development of methods for the enantioselective analysis of these analytes. These methods were then applied to study the in vitro biotransformation and the kinetic disposition of VEN in rats and humans. VEN is a chiral drug used in the treatment of depression, whose pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties are stereoselective. After the optimization of the HFLPME conditions, recoveries of 12-60% were obtained. The method employed in the in vitro biotransformation study of VEN was developed using a ChiralpaK AD® column, mobile phase consisting of hexane : 2-propanol (95:5, v/v) + 0.025% of diethylamine (DEA) and UV detection. The ChiralpaK AD-H® column and the mobile phase consisting of methanol : ethanol (70:30, v/v) + 0.025% of DEA were employed for the analysis of VEN and its metabolites in plasma. In order to obtain lower quantification limits, mass spectrometry detection was used in this method. The method used for the determination of VEN and its metabolites in rat liver microsomal fraction was linear over the concentration range of 200 to 5000 ng mL-1 whereas the method used for the determination of VEN and its metabolites in plasma was linear in the range of 5 to 500 ng mL-1. The developed methods for the determination of VEN in biological matrices were applied to an in vitro biotransformation study and to kinetic disposition studies in two species (rats and humans). The objective of these studies was to evaluate the correlation of the biotransformation between different species and to compare the results of the in vitro and in vivo studies. The results obtained using rat liver microsomal fraction were similar to those obtained in the rat kinetic disposition study, with more pronounced formation of N-desmethylvenlafaxine (NVEN) and major production of the (-)-(R) enantiomer. Comparing the kinetic disposition studies in rats and humans, the enantioselectivity in the biotransformation of VEN with (-)-(R)-VEN being preferentially biotransformed was observed for both species. However, (-)-(R)-O-desmethylvenlafaxine ((-)-(R)-O-VEN) is preferentially formed in humans whereas the major metabolite in rat plasma is (-)-(R)-N-VEN.

Robust industrially relevant membranes for CO₂ removal from aggressive natural gas feed streams were developed and characterized. Asymmetric hollow fiber membranes with defect-free selective skin layers on an optimized porous support substructure were successfully spun and subsequently stabilized by covalent crosslinking within the economical membrane formation process. Thermal treatment conditions, which promote sufficient crosslinking without introducing defects or undesired substructure resistance, were identified. It was found that crosslinking improves membrane efficiency and plasticization resistance as well as mechanical strength of fibers. The capability to maintain attractive separation performance under realistic operating conditions and durability against deleterious impurities suggests that the crosslinked fibers have great potential for use in diverse aggressive applications, even beyond the CO₂/CH₄ example explored in this work.

Bei überkritisch großen Läsionen des peripheren Nervensystems, die zum Verlust von Motorik bzw. Sensibilität an Extremitäten führen und damit eine erhebliche Beeinträchtigung der Lebensqualität des Patienten bedingen, ist der Einsatz von Überbrückungsstrukturen bzw. Nervenleitkanälen notwendig. Da weder autologe Transplantate noch künstliche Konstrukte im klinischen Alltag bislang zufriedenstellende Ergebnisse lieferten, ist die Nachfrage nach alternativen Materialien und Konzepten des Tissue Engineering hoch. Im Rahmen dieser Dissertation ist es gelungen zwei thermoplastische Methoden zu etablieren, mit denen aus dem im medizinischen Sinne interessanten und relativ neuartigen Material Poly(3-hydroxybuttersäure) in Kombination mit Polycaprolacton poröse resorbierbare Hohlstrukturen bzw. Hohlfasern erzeugt werden können, die den hohen aktuellen Anforderungen an eine Nervenleitschiene gerecht werden. Neben der Entwicklung und Charakterisierung sowie Modifizierung der erzeugten Leitkanäle bezüglich Porosität, Permeationsverhalten, mechanische Eigenschaften und Oberflächenfunktionalisierung, konnten strukturelle als auch biochemische Reize in diese integriert werden, die in einer Reihe von ex-vivo Studien mit neuronalen Primärzellen hinsichtlich Adhäsion, Vitalität und Ausbreitungsverhalten untersucht werden konnten. Es konnte eine Art „Toolbox“ aus PHB basierten Strukturen erstellt werden, die es erlaubt hierarchische Strukturen zusammenzustellen, die entsprechend des peripheren Defektes zusammengesetzt und biomolekular maßgeschneidert werden könnten, um die native Struktur bestmöglich temporär bis zur vollständigen Regeneration zu imitieren und damit die Therapie größerer Defekte zu ermöglichen bzw. die als Plattform für weitere Konzepte der Grundlagenforschung im Bereich des Neuro-Tissue Engineering dienen.

Durch verschiedene Modifizierungen an der Blutkontaktseite von Hohlfasermembranen sollte eine Verbesserung der Bio- und Blutkompatibilität erreicht werden. Zur Modifizierung wurden verschiedene biologisch wirksame Moleküle verwendet. Weiterhin wurden zwei Modifizerungsstrategien verfolgt. Zum einen eine Modifizierung, bei welcher das Material der Hohlfasermembran vor deren Herstellung verändert wird. Und zum anderen eine selektive Modifizierung der Blutkontaktseite nach der Herstellung der Hohlfasermembran.

Natural gas is one of the fastest growing primary energy sources in the world today. The increasing world demand for energy requires increased production of high quality natural gas. For the natural gas to be fed into the mainline gas transportation system, it must meet the pipe-line quality standards. Natural gas produced at the wellhead is usually "sub-quality" and contains various impurities such as CO2, H2S, and higher hydrocarbons, which must be removed to meet specifications. Carbon dioxide is usually the most abundant impurity in natural gas feeds and high CO2 partial pressures in the feed can lead to plasticization, which causes loss of some methane product and may ultimately render the membrane ineffective. Moreover, the presence of highly sorbing higher hydrocarbons in the feed can further reduce membrane performance. Covalent crosslinking has been shown to increase plasticization resistance in dense films by suppressing the degree of swelling and segmental chain mobility in the polymer, thereby preserving the selectivity of the membrane. This research focuses on extending the dense film success to asymmetric hollow fibers. In this work, the effect of high pressure CO2 (up to 400 psia CO2 partial pressure) on CO2/CH4 mixed gas separation performance was investigated on defect-free the hollow fiber membrane at different degrees of crosslinking. All the crosslinked fibers were shown to exhibit good resistance to selectivity losses from CO2 induced plasticization, significantly more than the uncrosslinked fibers. Robust resistance of the hollow fiber membranes in the presence of toluene (a highly sorbing contaminant) was also demonstrated as the membranes showed no plasticization. Antiplasticization was found to occur in the presence of toluene feeds with the crosslinkable fibers used in this work.

A microextração em fase líquida com membranas cilíndricas ocas (HF-LPME) é uma técnica bastante interessante de preparação de amostras, uma vez que com pequenas quantidades de solventes orgânicos é possível a extração dos analitos presentes em matrizes complexas. Sendo assim, essa técnica foi empregada para extração da venlafaxina (VEN) e seus metabólitos em fração microssomal de fígado de ratos e plasma, visando o desenvolvimento de métodos para análise enantiosseletiva desses analitos. Esses métodos foram então empregados em um estudo in vitro de biotransformação da VEN e em um estudo piloto de disposição cinética em ratos e humanos. A VEN é um fármaco quiral empregado no tratamento da depressão, cujas propriedades farmacocinéticas e farmacodinâmicas são estereosseletivas. Após a otimização das condições de extração por HF-LPME, foram obtidas recuperações de 12-60%. O método empregado no estudo in vitro de biotransformação da VEN foi desenvolvido usando a coluna ChiralpaK AD®, fase móvel composta por hexano : 2-propanol (95:5, v/v) + 0,025% de dietilamina (DEA) e detecção por absorção no UV. A coluna ChiralpaK AD-H® e a fase móvel composta por metanol : etanol (70:30, v/v) + 0,025% de DEA foram empregadas para análise da VEN e seus metabólitos em plasma. Para esse método, empregou-se a detecção por espectrometria de massas visando à obtenção de menores limites de quantificação. O método empregado para a determinação da VEN e de seus metabólitos em fração microssomal de fígado de ratos foi linear no intervalo de 200 a 5000 ng mL-1 e o método empregado para a determinação da VEN e de seus metabólitos em amostras de plasma foi linear no intervalo de 5 a 500 ng mL-1. Os métodos analíticos desenvolvidos para determinação da VEN e seus metabólitos nas matrizes biológicas foram aplicados em estudos de biotransformação in vitro e em estudos de disposição cinética em duas espécies (ratos e humanos). O objetivo destes estudos foi avaliar a correlação da biotransformação entre as diferentes espécies avaliadas e comparar os resultados obtidos nos estudos in vitro com os verificados nos estudos in vivo. Os resultados dos estudos empregando fração microssomal de fígado de ratos são semelhantes aos obtidos no estudo de disposição cinética em ratos, com formação mais pronunciada da Ndesmetilvenlafaxina (N-VEN) e com produção prioritária do enantiômero (-)-(R). Comparando-se os estudos de disposição cinética em ratos e humanos, observa-se enantiosseletividade na biotransformação da VEN com a (-)-(R)-VEN sendo preferencialmente biotransformada. Entretanto, em humanos observa-se que a (-)- (R)-O-desmetilvenlafaxina ((-)-(R)-O-VEN) é formada em maior proporção enquanto que, em ratos, a (-)-(R)-N-VEN é preferencialmente formada. / Hollow Fiber-Liquid Phase Microextraction (HF-LPME) is a very interesting technique for sample preparation, since it uses small amounts of organic solvents to extract drugs present in complex matrices. Thus, this technique was employed for the extraction of venlafaxine (VEN) and its metabolites from rat liver microsomal fraction and plasma, aiming the development of methods for the enantioselective analysis of these analytes. These methods were then applied to study the in vitro biotransformation and the kinetic disposition of VEN in rats and humans. VEN is a chiral drug used in the treatment of depression, whose pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties are stereoselective. After the optimization of the HFLPME conditions, recoveries of 12-60% were obtained. The method employed in the in vitro biotransformation study of VEN was developed using a ChiralpaK AD® column, mobile phase consisting of hexane : 2-propanol (95:5, v/v) + 0.025% of diethylamine (DEA) and UV detection. The ChiralpaK AD-H® column and the mobile phase consisting of methanol : ethanol (70:30, v/v) + 0.025% of DEA were employed for the analysis of VEN and its metabolites in plasma. In order to obtain lower quantification limits, mass spectrometry detection was used in this method. The method used for the determination of VEN and its metabolites in rat liver microsomal fraction was linear over the concentration range of 200 to 5000 ng mL-1 whereas the method used for the determination of VEN and its metabolites in plasma was linear in the range of 5 to 500 ng mL-1. The developed methods for the determination of VEN in biological matrices were applied to an in vitro biotransformation study and to kinetic disposition studies in two species (rats and humans). The objective of these studies was to evaluate the correlation of the biotransformation between different species and to compare the results of the in vitro and in vivo studies. The results obtained using rat liver microsomal fraction were similar to those obtained in the rat kinetic disposition study, with more pronounced formation of N-desmethylvenlafaxine (NVEN) and major production of the (-)-(R) enantiomer. Comparing the kinetic disposition studies in rats and humans, the enantioselectivity in the biotransformation of VEN with (-)-(R)-VEN being preferentially biotransformed was observed for both species. However, (-)-(R)-O-desmethylvenlafaxine ((-)-(R)-O-VEN) is preferentially formed in humans whereas the major metabolite in rat plasma is (-)-(R)-N-VEN.

Microbial electrosynthesis (MES) is an emerging biotechnology platform for the conversion of CO2 feedstocks into value-added chemical commodities. In MES, microbial catalysts use the cathode (electrons/ H2) as a sole source of energy for the reduction of CO2. Integrating MES technology with renewable energy sources, such as solar power, to convert CO2 to storable chemicals is an example of a perfect circular economy and a sustainable climate change mitigation strategy. However, many knowledge gaps need to be addressed to scale-up MES as an economically viable chemical production process. Therefore, different in-depth approaches were tested in this dissertation by optimizing the cathode architecture and exploring the saline application to enhance MES performance. A balance between various bio-physicochemical phenomena at the MES cathode, i.e., the three-phase interface between CO2 gas, cathodic-biofilm, and electrolyte, is desirable for efficient microbial electrochemical CO2 capture and utilization. To address this problem, this thesis investigated alternatives to the benchmark carbonbased plane cathode by applying a dual-functioning (cathode as well as a CO2 gas-transfer membrane) electrode architecture on MES performance. High Faradaic efficiencies for CO2 reduction were achieved with this novel cathode architecture. This hollow-fiber electrode architecture was also applied to MES operation in saline conditions (i.e., Saline-MES). Because seawater potentially acts as an endless source of saline electrolyte, and its high electrical conductivity useful to minimize the concentration overpotential losses occurs in MES. However, exploring robust halophilic microbial catalysts with high selectivity towards CO2 reduction to the desired end product(s) is necessary to develop the saline-MES process. Therefore, this thesis investigated natural saline habitats with hyper (Red sea brine pool) and moderate salinity (mangrove and salt marsh sediment) as a source of inoculum. Emphasis was placed on improving new knowledge in the direction of halophilic CO2 reducing communities enrichment using cathode selective pressure in the saline-MES. The fundamental insights demonstrated in this dissertation are useful for further development of MES technology, to bring MES one step closer to full-scale applications, for overcoming the bottlenecks associated with reactor scaling-up related to cathode architecture, strategies for the enrichment of halophilic CO2 reducing microbial communities, and saline-MES process optimization.

Durch verschiedene Modifizierungen an der Blutkontaktseite von Hohlfasermembranen sollte eine Verbesserung der Bio- und Blutkompatibilität erreicht werden. Zur Modifizierung wurden verschiedene biologisch wirksame Moleküle verwendet. Weiterhin wurden zwei Modifizerungsstrategien verfolgt. Zum einen eine Modifizierung, bei welcher das Material der Hohlfasermembran vor deren Herstellung verändert wird. Und zum anderen eine selektive Modifizierung der Blutkontaktseite nach der Herstellung der Hohlfasermembran.