In this study the aim was to optimize the production of the Affibody fusion-protein Z03358- ABD094-(S4G)3-IL2 with regard to the amount of soluble protein produced. However, problems with reproducibility with this protein and the chosen expression system were encountered. Therefore, expression of the His-tagged Affibody His6-(Z05477)2 was evaluated using the same expression system as well as expression in another well characterized expression system. Both target proteins are of therapeutic interest. One of the proteins is an IL2 fusion protein (Z03358-ABD094-(S4G)3-IL2) that bind the platelet-derived growth factor receptor β (PDGFR-β). PDGF signaling is of interest in cancer treatment where, among other things, the effects of PDGF on tumor angiogenesis is researched. The His6-(Z05477)2 protein has a classified target but is developed as a therapeutic in the area of inflammation and autoimmune disease. Both model proteins are known to be difficult to purify due to low solubility. The two E. coli expression systems investigated and compared were BL21(DE3) and Lemo21(DE3). The fusion protein Z03358-ABD094-(S4G)3-IL2 was produced in BL21(DE3) in inclusion bodies with a yield of 4.95 g/l. An optimized process for the expression of His6-(Z05477)2 using BL21(DE3) was developed with a yield of 6.6 g/l soluble protein after expression at 30°C for 6 h.

La grande quantité de données issues des l'imagerie médicale contribue au succès des méthodes supervisées pour l'annotation sémantique des images. Notre étude porte sur la détection de lésions cérébrales dans les images par résonance magnétique (IRMs) en utilisant un outil générique et efficace: les forêts aléatoires. Trois contributions majeures se distinguent. D'abord, la segmentation des lésions cérébrales, essentielle pour établir diagnostics, pronostics et le traitement. La conception d'une forêt aléatoire intégrant le contexte spatial cible particulièrement la segmentation automatique de lésions de sclérose en plaques et des gliomes dans les IRMs. La méthode intègre l'information multi-séquences des IRMs, les atlas de répartition des tissus. Deuxième contribution : l'estimation de la densité de cellules tumorales à partir des IRMs. Une méthode de couplage de modèles génératifs et discriminatifs est conçue pour apprendre la densité de cellules tumorales latente à partir de modélisations associées à des images synthétiques. Le modèle génératif est un simulateur bio-physiologique de croissance tumorale en libre accès. Le modèle discriminatif est une forêt aléatoire pour la régression multi-variée de la densité de cellules tumorales à partir des IRMs. Enfin, nous présentons les “forêts aléatoires spatialement adaptables” regroupant les avantages des approches multi-échelles avec ceux de forêts aléatoires, avec une application aux scénarios de classification et de segmentation précédemment cités. Une évaluation quantitative des méthodes proposées sur des bases de données annotées et librement accessibles démontre des résultats comparables à l'état de l'art. / The large size of the datasets produced by medical imaging protocols contributes to the success of supervised discriminative methods for semantic labelling of images. Our study makes use of a general and efficient emerging framework, discriminative random forests, for the detection of brain lesions in multi-modal magnetic resonance images (MRIs). The contribution is three-fold. First, we focus on segmentation of brain lesions which is an essential task to diagnosis, prognosis and therapy planning. A context-aware random forest is designed for the automatic multi-class segmentation of MS lesions, low grade and high grade gliomas in MR images. It uses multi-channel MRIs, prior knowledge on tissue classes, symmetrical and long-range spatial context to discriminate lesions from background. Then, we investigate the promising perspective of estimating the brain tumor cell density from MRIs. A generative-discriminative framework is presented to learn the latent and clinically unavailable tumor cell density from model-based estimations associated with synthetic MRIs. The generative model is a validated and publicly available biophysiological tumor growth simulator. The discriminative model builds on multi-variate regression random forests to estimate the voxel-wise distribution of tumor cell density from input MRIs. Finally, we present the “Spatially Adaptive Random Forests” which merge the benefits of multi-scale and random forest methods and apply it to previously cited classification and regression settings. Quantitative evaluation of the proposed methods are carried out on publicly available labeled datasets and demonstrate state of the art performance.

In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurden einseitig mit Human-Cochlea-Implantat versorgte Meerschweinchen verwendet, die auf dem anderen Ohr normalhörend waren und mit einer einseitig vertäubten, aber nicht elektrostimulierten Kontrollgruppe verglichen wurden. Untersucht wurde der Einfluss von drei unterschiedlichen Stimulationsraten und drei Stimulationsintensitäten während einer einseitigen Elektrostimulation. Dabei wurde zunächst der Einfluss der Elektrostimulation auf die Hörschwellen mittels Hirnstammaudiometrie (ABR) untersucht. Anschließend wurden die Zelldichten in der aufsteigenden Hörbahn (dorsaler Nucleus Cochlearis, Colliculus Inferior, medialer Kniehöcker und auditorischer Cortex) im Hirnschnitt unter Verwendung einer Hämalaun-Eosin Färbung bestimmt. Ein Zusammenhang zwischen der verwendeten Stimulationsrate und den in der zentralen Hörbahn gefundenen Zelldichten wurde ebenso wenig gezeigt wie ein Zusammenhang mit den mittels ABR ermittelten Hörschwellen der normalhörenden Seite. Dagegen wurde jedoch ein Zusammenhang zwischen den in der Elektrostimulation verwendeten Stimulationsintensitäten und den ermittelten Zelldichten festgestellt. Die niedrigste verwendete Stimulationsintensität führte zu einer bilateralen Konservierung der Zelldichten in der gesamten untersuchten Hörbahn, wogegen eine Elektrostimulation mit der höchsten Stimulationsintensität zum Teil einen bilateralen Zellverlust im dorsalen Nucleus Cochlearis, medialen Kniehöcker und im auditorischen Cortex zur Folge hatte. Dieser Zellverlust führte in dem Untersuchungszeitraum nicht zu einer signifikanten Veränderung der Hörschwelle. / In this study, human cochlear implants (CI) were implanted unilaterally in the cochlea of guinea pigs that were normal hearing on the contralateral side. Electro-stimulation was used on the cochlea with the implanted CI. They were compared to an unilaterally implanted but not electro-stimulated control group. This study investigates the effect of three different stimulation-rates and three different stimulation-intensities in unilateral electro-stimulation. The effect of the electro-stimulation on the hearing thresholds was determined using auditory brainstem recordings (ABR). Afterwards, cell densities in the ascending auditory pathway (dorsal cochlear nucleus, inferior colliculus, medial geniculate body and auditory cortex) were measured in brain slices stained with hematoxylin and eosin. No evidence was found of a connection between the different stimulation rates of electro-stimulation in the cochlea with a CI and cell densities seen in the central auditory pathway. Furthermore, there were no links found between hearing thresholds determined by ABR and the different parameters that were used for the electro-stimulation. However a significant effect of the different stimulation intensities on the cell densities identified in the auditory pathway was demonstrated. The lowest intensity used in the electro stimulation led to a bilateral preservation of cell densities in the entire auditory pathway whereas electro-stimulation with the highest intensity induced a significant cell loss in the auditory pathway (dorsal cochlear nucleus, the medial geniculate body and the auditory cortex). Interestingly, this cell loss was not accompanied by significant changes in the auditory threshold.

A proteína A de superfície de pneumococo (PspA) é indispensável para a virulência da bactéria e foi escolhida para a elaboração de uma nova vacina conjugada contra S. pneumoniae. Para tanto foi desenvolvido um processo industrial de produção e purificação do fragmento recombinante da PspA clado 3 em E. coli. Cultivos descontínuos alimentados foram estabelecidos com glicose ou glicerol em reator de 5L, obtendo-se 62g/L de células secas e 3g/L de PspA3. As células foram lisadas por homogeneizador contínuo de alta pressão com eficiência de 96,7%. A centrifugação foi definida como etapa de clarificação. A sequência cromatográfica troca aniônica seguida de afinidade por Ni+2 rendeu os melhores resultados de pureza (81%) e recuperação (70%). A cromatografia de troca catiônica foi selecionada como terceira etapa do processo, definindo assim um processo de produção e purificação escalonável que possibilitou a obtenção de PspA3 com alto grau de pureza (90%). / The pneumococcal surface protein A (PspA) is indispensable for virulence of S. pneumoniae and it was the first choice as carrier for a new conjugated vaccine against S.pneumoniae. Hence, the purpose of this work was to develop an industrial production and purification process of a recombinant fragment PspA clade 3 (rfPspA3) in E. coli. Fed-batch cultivations in 5 L bioreactors with defined medium were carried out using glucose or glycerol as carbon sources. It was obtained 62 g/L of dry cell weight and 3 g/L of rfPspA3. Cells were disrupted with 96.7% of efficiency by high pressure continuous homogenizer. Centrifugation was defined for the clarification step. The sequence with Q- followed by IMAC-Sepharose yielded the best purity and recovery of rfPspA3 (81 and 70%, respectively). Cation exchange was chosen for the last chromatography. In conclusion, an industrial production and purification process was developed and rfPspA3 was obtained with high purity (90%).

<b>Background:</b> Systemic chemotherapy and radiotherapy play an important role in the treatment of colorectal cancer. Tumour perfusion and oxygenation is known to influence radiosensitivity and chemosensitivity. In this thesis, I propose that the evaluation of changes in tumour perfusion using perfusion CT (pCT) and dynamic contrast-enhanced (Dce) MRI can guide the rational sequencing of drugs and radiation. <b>Methods:</b> Dce-MRI and pCT scans were incorporated into a clinical trial of hypofractionated pelvic radiotherapy and nelfinavir in 10 patients with rectal cancer. Toxicity and tissue biomarkers (tumour cell density, microvessel density, CAIX, HIF1-alpha, phospho-Akt and phospho-PRAS40) were evaluated. pCT liver scans were incorporated into an imaging study in patients with colorectal liver metastases randomised to receive either oxaliplatin/ 5FU chemotherapy or oxaliplatin/ 5FU chemotherapy plus selective internal radiotherapy. <b>Results:</b> After 7 days of nelfinavir concurrent with hypo-fractionated pelvic radiotherapy, there was a mean 42&percnt; increase in median K^trans (P=0.03, paired t test) on Dce-MRI and a median 30&percnt; increase in mean blood flow on pCT (P=0.028, Wilcoxon Rank Sum), although no statistically significant changes in perfusion parameters were demonstrated after 7 days of nelfinavir prior to radiotherapy. The feasibility of evaluating tumour cell density in rectal biopsies before and after radiotherapy and a radiosensitising drug as an early endpoint of response was demonstrated. In patients with colorectal liver metastases who received oxaliplatin and modified de Gramont chemotherapy alone, after 4 cycles of chemotherapy, a 28&percnt; decrease in the mean hepatic arterial fraction was observed (P=0.018, paired t test). Between pCT scans 2 days before SIRT and 39-47 days following SIRT and continued 2-weekly chemotherapy, there was a mean 62&percnt; (P=0.009) reduction in Blood Flow and 61&percnt; (P=0.006) reduction in Blood Volume (paired t test). <b>Conclusions</b> This research does not support the hypothesis that nelfinavir before radiotherapy improves blood flow to human rectal cancer. Increases in rectal tumour perfusion during radiotherapy and concurrent nelfinavir are likely to be primarily explained by the acute biological effects of radiation. Four or more cycles of oxaliplatin and modified de Gramont chemotherapy may result in changes in tumour perfusion of colorectal liver metastases which would be detrimental to subsequent radiotherapy. Selective internal radiotherapy resulted in substantial reductions in tumour perfusion 39-47 days after the treatment. Perfusion imaging can be used to detect changes in tumour perfusion in response to radiotherapy and systemic therapy which have implications for the sequencing of therapies.

Abstract Small-scale cultivation methods are a necessity for the development of new biotechnological processes. The most common method for submerged microbial cultivation is a shake flask used with a batch operation protocol. Well plate cultivation formats have also increased their importance, due to the need to utilize high-throughput cultivations for efficient product development. However, batch cultivation is often not the optimal method for obtaining high cell densities and good product quality, due to unlimited microbial growth. The aim of this dissertation was to improve small-scale microbial cultivations for microbial growth and product formation. Hydrolytic enzymes were utilized to relieve nutrient limitation by hydrolysis of proteins in lactic acid bacteria cultures to improve lactic acid production from dairy side products. Hydrolytic enzymes were also utilized in the enzymatic release of glucose from starch to create a fed-batch-like cultivation system applicable on small scale. The wireless sensor system developed was applied in shake flask cultivations to monitor oxygen and pH levels. Enzymatic polymer processing was applicable for small-scale cultivations. Lactic acid production by Lactobacillus salivarius ssp. salicinius was enhanced four-fold when the proteins were hydrolyzed either by proteases or by proteolytic microbes. The fed-batch-mimicking controlled glucose feeding and growth control were obtained by means of the simultaneous enzymatic hydrolysis of starch-polymer during cultivation. Controlled growth, higher cell densities, decreased side product formation and increased amount of soluble protein product were obtained in Escherichia coli cultivations. When this method was applied to the cultivation and recombinant protein production of the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris, higher cell densities and higher amounts of active protein were obtained. The glucose concentration remained low enough to avoid the substrate repression of the alcohol oxidase promoter. The fed-batch method is suitable for high-throughput cultivations since the method can be utilized in well plate formats without external feeding devices. The method can be utilized in the development of new biotechnological products, especially when the production system is sensitive to growth conditions, and growth control is preferred. / Tiivistelmä Pienen mittakaavan mikrobikasvatusmenetelmiä tarvitaan kehitettäessä uusia bioteknologisia prosesseja. Tavallisin menetelmä mikrobien liuoksessa tapahtuvaan kasvatukseen on panostyyppisesti tehtävä sekoituspullokasvatus. Kuoppalevykasvatukset ovat myös tulleet entistä tärkeämmiksi, koska tuotekehityksen tehostamiseksi on tarvetta käyttää high-throughput-menetelmiä. Tavoiteltaessa korkeita mikrobisolutiheyksiä ja tuotteen hyvää laatua, panostyyppinen kasvatus ei ole usein paras vaihtoehto, johtuen mikrobien rajoittamattomasta kasvusta. Tämän työn tarkoituksena oli parantaa mikrobien kasvua ja tuotteen muodostusta pienen mittakaavan kasvatuksissa. Meijeriteollisuuden sivutuotteiden proteiineja pilkottiin entsyymien avulla, jotta maitohappobakteerit pystyivät hyödyntämään proteiinit tehokkaammin ja tuottamaan enemmän maitohappoa. Hydrolyyttisiä entsyymejä hyödynnettiin myös glukoosin vapauttamiseen tärkkelyksestä, jolloin saatiin luotua pieneen mittakaavaan sopiva panossyöttötyyppinen kasvatusmenetelmä. Työn aikana kehitettyä langatonta mittausjärjestelmää hyödynnettiin sekoituspullokasvatuksissa happipitoisuuden ja pH:n seurantaan. Entsymaattinen polymeerien käsittely oli soveltuva menetelmä pienen mittakaavan kasvatuksiin. Maitohapon tuotto Lactobacillus salivarius ssp. salicinius -mikrobilla nelinkertaistui, kun ravinneproteiinit pilkottiin joko proteaasien tai proteolyyttisten mikrobien avulla. Panossyöttömenetelmää muistuttava hallittu glukoosin syöttö ja mikrobin kasvun hallinta saavutettiin pilkkomalla tärkkelystä glukoosiksi kasvatuksen aikana. Escherichia coli kasvatuksissa saavutettiin hallittu solumäärän kasvu, korkeammat solutiheydet, vähentynyt sivutuotteiden muodostus ja suurempi liukoisen tuoteproteiinin määrä. Tätä menetelmää sovellettiin myös vierasproteiinin tuottoon metylotrofisella Pichia pastoris -hiivalla, jolloin saavutettiin korkeammat solutiheydet ja suurempi aktiivisen tuoteproteiinin määrä. Glukoosin määrä kasvatusliuoksessa pysyi riittävän alhaisena, jotta se ei repressoinut hiivan alkoholioksidaasi-promoottoria. Panossyöttömenetelmä on sopiva high-throughput-mikrobikasvatuksiin, koska sitä voidaan käyttää kuoppalevyillä ilman syöttölaitteita. Menetelmää voidaan hyödyntää uusien bioteknisten tuotteiden kehittämisessä erityisesti silloin, kun tuottoisäntä on herkkä kasvuolosuhteiden suhteen ja mikrobin kasvua halutaan hallita.

A proteína A de superfície de pneumococo (PspA) é indispensável para a virulência da bactéria e foi escolhida para a elaboração de uma nova vacina conjugada contra S. pneumoniae. Para tanto foi desenvolvido um processo industrial de produção e purificação do fragmento recombinante da PspA clado 3 em E. coli. Cultivos descontínuos alimentados foram estabelecidos com glicose ou glicerol em reator de 5L, obtendo-se 62g/L de células secas e 3g/L de PspA3. As células foram lisadas por homogeneizador contínuo de alta pressão com eficiência de 96,7%. A centrifugação foi definida como etapa de clarificação. A sequência cromatográfica troca aniônica seguida de afinidade por Ni+2 rendeu os melhores resultados de pureza (81%) e recuperação (70%). A cromatografia de troca catiônica foi selecionada como terceira etapa do processo, definindo assim um processo de produção e purificação escalonável que possibilitou a obtenção de PspA3 com alto grau de pureza (90%). / The pneumococcal surface protein A (PspA) is indispensable for virulence of S. pneumoniae and it was the first choice as carrier for a new conjugated vaccine against S.pneumoniae. Hence, the purpose of this work was to develop an industrial production and purification process of a recombinant fragment PspA clade 3 (rfPspA3) in E. coli. Fed-batch cultivations in 5 L bioreactors with defined medium were carried out using glucose or glycerol as carbon sources. It was obtained 62 g/L of dry cell weight and 3 g/L of rfPspA3. Cells were disrupted with 96.7% of efficiency by high pressure continuous homogenizer. Centrifugation was defined for the clarification step. The sequence with Q- followed by IMAC-Sepharose yielded the best purity and recovery of rfPspA3 (81 and 70%, respectively). Cation exchange was chosen for the last chromatography. In conclusion, an industrial production and purification process was developed and rfPspA3 was obtained with high purity (90%).

The recombinant product is secreted to the periplasm in many processes where E. coli is used as host. One drawback with secretion is the undesired leakage of the periplasmic products to the medium. The aim of this work was to find strategies to influence the periplasmic retention of recombinant products. We have focused on the role of the specific growth rate, a parameter that is usually controlled in industrial bioprocesses. The hypothesis was that the stability of the outer membrane in E. coli is gained from a certain combination of specific phospholipids and fatty acids on one side and the amount and specificity of the outer membrane proteins on the other side, and that the specific growth rate influences this structure and therefore can be used to control the periplasmic retention. We found that is possible to control the periplasmic retention by the growth rate. The leakage of the product increased as the growth rate increased. It was however also found that a higher growth rate resulted in increased productivity. This resulted in equal amounts of product inside the cells regardless of growth rate. We also showed that the growth rate influenced the outer membrane composition with respect to OmpF and LamB while OmpA was largely unaffected. The total amount of outer membrane proteins decreased as the growth rate increased. There were further reductions in outer membrane protein accumulation when the recombinant product was secreted to the periplasm. The lowered amount of outer membrane proteins may have contributed to the reduced ability for the cell to retain the product in the periplasm. The traditional way to control the growth rate is through a feed of substrate in a fed-batch process. In this work we used strains with a set of mutations in the phosphotransferase system (PTS) with a reduced uptake rate of glucose to investigate if these strains could be used for growth rate control in batch cultivations without the use of fed-batch control equipment. The hypothesis was that the lowering of the growth rate on cell level would result in the establishment of fed-batch similar conditions. This study showed that it is possible to control the growth rate in batch cultivations by using mutant strains with a decreased level of substrate uptake rate. The mutants also produced equivalent amounts of acetic acid as the wild type did in fed-batch cultivation with the same growth rate. The oxygen consumption rates were also comparable. A higher cell density was reached with one of the mutants than with the wild type in batch cultivations. It is possible to control the growth rate by the use of the mutants in small-scale batch cultivations without fed-batch control equipment. / QC 20101108

No description available.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:55:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 4085.pdf: 6460777 bytes, checksum: 9367318799fc091b43ee6716e5057271 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-12-22 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / High cell density cultivations of recombinant E. coli are a fast and economical way to produce recombinant proteins. Through this bioprocess, products with high added value and pharmaceuticals of great importance such as insulin, human and bovine growth hormone, protein antigens for formulation of vaccines, enzymes, among others, are obtained. However, keeping these cultivations within the desired conditions becomes a major challenge, since some variables such as dissolved oxygen concentration (DOC) and substrate concentration are difficult to control. Therefore, the development and implementation of an automatic monitoring and control tool are key requirements for the performance of high density cultivation. The present work has as main objectives to study feeding strategies for high cell density cultivation of recombinant Escherichia coli and develop a computational tool capable of ensuring the implementation of the chosen strategies, performing the monitoring, control and supervision of the cultivations. Fed batch cultivations were carried out under the supervision of the tool in a 5 L in-house bioreactor, equipped with sensors for temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, pressure and biomass (sensor that measures the concentration of viable cells based on permittivity measurements), peristaltic pumps and connected to the gas analyzer. The tool was developed with LabView 8.0 and MatLab 6.5, being the acquisition and communication with the different bioreactor accessories via compact Field Point. Twenty two fed-batch cultivations with 5 different clones of E. coli, BL21(D3) expressing the enzyme penicillin G acylase (PGA) as well as antigenic proteins of S. pneumoniae (PspA3, PspA245 and PspA4Pro) and E. rhusiopathiae (SpaA) were performed during the development of the tool and the studies of feeding strategy. Both defined medium (HDF modified) as complex medium (ZYM-5052 modified), usually having glycerol as main carbon source and IPTG or lactose as inducers were used. In all cultivations, samples were collected to quantify the concentration of cells (dry weight method in filter of 0.22 &#61676;m and optical density at 600 nm), organic acids, glucose, glycerol and lactose (HPLC) as well as protein expression (densitometry and NIPAB method for PGA) and plasmid stability (plating). The tool SUPERSYS_HCDCR (registered as a free software) developed, implemented and validated in the performed cultivations, carries out the basic functions of bioreactor supervision software, such as monitoring and data acquisition of pressure, temperature, pH, DOC, fraction of CO2 and O2 in the outlet gas as well as real-time estimate of the respiratory quotient, the rate of oxygen consumption and CO2 production. However, it also has the following special features, including: i) automatic control of air and oxygen flow according to cellular demand, ii) automatic activation of the feed pump at the end of the batch; iii) automatic control of feeding flow rate as function of the specific growth rate inferred in real time; iv) automatic control of feeding flow rate constrained by the concentration of dissolved oxygen, v) audible alarms indicating failures in the process; vi) failure messages sent via email; vii) automatic control of dissolved oxygen concentration; viii) control of the bioreactor pressure; and ix) control of bath temperature. Regarding the studies of feeding strategies aimed at biomass productivity increase in high cell density cultivations of recombinant E. coli, using the supervision tool developed together with changes in the composition of the synthetic culture medium available in the literature, a cellular concentrations greater than 150 g/L was achieved in less than 24 hours of cultivation, corresponding to a productivity of 9.2 g/Lh. This value, which is higher than the reported in the literature, was obtained without acetate accumulation and allowing high production of recombinant protein. / Cultivos de alta densidade celular de E. coli recombinante constituem uma tecnica rapida e economica para producao de proteinas recombinantes. Por meio deste bioprocesso, sao obtidos produtos de alto valor agregado e de grande importancia na industria farmaceutica, tais como insulina, hormonios de crescimento humano e bovino, antigenos proteicos para formulacao de vacinas, enzimas, dentre outros. Entretanto, manter estes cultivos dentro das condicoes desejadas se torna um grande desafio, em funcao da dificuldade de controlar variaveis como a concentracao de oxigenio dissolvido (COD) e a concentracao de substrato nos niveis desejados. Por isso, o desenvolvimento e a implementacao de sistemas automaticos de supervisao e controle sao requisitos fundamentais para o bom desempenho de um cultivo de alta densidade. O presente trabalho teve como principais objetivos estudar estrategias de alimentacao para cultivos de alta densidade celular de Escherichia coli recombinante e desenvolver uma ferramenta computacional para suporte na execucao das estrategias escolhidas, realizando o monitoramento, controle e supervisao dos cultivos. Os cultivos em batelada alimentada realizados sob supervisao da ferramenta foram conduzidos em biorreator de 5 L, equipado com sensores de temperatura, oxigenio dissolvido, pH, pressao e biomassa (sensor que mede a concentracao de celulas viaveis a partir dos dados de permissividade), bombas peristalticas e conectado a analisador de gases. A ferramenta foi desenvolvida com os programas LabView 8.0 e MatLab 6.5, sendo a aquisicao e a comunicacao com os diferentes acessorios do biorreator realizada via compact Field Point (National Instruments). Vinte e dois cultivos em batelada alimentada com 5 diferentes clones de E. coli, BL21(D3) expressando a enzima penicilina G acilase (PGA) assim como proteinas antigenicas de Streptococcus pneumoniae (PspA3, PspA245 e PspA4Pro) e de Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae (SpaA) foram realizados durante o desenvolvimento da ferramenta e dos estudos de estrategia de alimentacao, empregando tanto meio definido (HDF modificado) como meio complexo (ZYM-5052 modificado), tendo glicerol ou glicose como principal fonte de carbono e IPTG ou lactose como indutores. Em todos os cultivos, amostras foram coletadas para quantificar a concentracao de celulas (metodo de massa seca em filtro de 0,22&#61676;m e leitura da densidade otica a 600 nm), de acidos organicos, glicose, glicerol e lactose (HPLC) e a expressao da proteina (densitometria e metodo NIPAB para a PGA) e a estabilidade de plasmideo (plaqueamento). A ferramenta SUPERSYS_HCDCR (registrada como software livre) desenvolvida, implementada e validada nos cultivos realizados, desempenha as funcoes basicas de softwares de supervisao de biorreatores, tais como: monitoramento e aquisicao de dados de pressao, temperatura, pH, COD, fracao de CO2 e de O2 nos gases de saida; estimativa em tempo real do quociente respiratorio, das velocidades de consumo de oxigenio e de producao de CO2. Esta ferramenta apresenta as seguintes funcionalidades especiais: i) controle automatico das vazoes de ar e de oxigenio de acordo com a demanda celular; ii) acionamento automatico da bomba de alimentacao ao final da batelada; iii) controle automatico da vazao de alimentacao em funcao da velocidade especifica de crescimento inferida em tempo real; iv) controle automatico da alimentacao com restricoes pela concentracao de oxigenio dissolvido; v) alarmes sonoros indicando falhas no processo; vi) envio de mensagens de falhas por email; vii) controle automatico da concentracao de oxigenio dissolvido; viii) controle de seguranca da pressao do biorreator, e ix) controle da temperatura do banho. Em relacao aos estudos das estrategias de alimentacao visando ao aumento da produtividade em biomassa em cultivos de alta densidade celular de E. coli recombinante, com o auxilio da ferramenta de supervisao desenvolvida aliada a modificacoes na composicao do meio de cultivo sintetico disponivel na literatura, foram alcancadas concentracoes celulares maiores que 150 g/L em menos de 24 h de tempo total de cultivo, levando a uma produtividade de 9,2 g/Lh, a qual e superior aos valores relatados na literatura, sem acumulo de acetato e possibilitando elevada producao da proteina recombinante.