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The use of dinoflagellate bioluminescence to characterize cell stimulation in bioreactors
Author(s) -
Chen Antony K.,
Latz Michael I.,
Frangos John A.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
biotechnology and bioengineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.136
H-Index - 189
eISSN - 1097-0290
pISSN - 0006-3592
DOI - 10.1002/bit.10647
Subject(s) - bioluminescence , bioreactor , microcarrier , stimulation , shear stress , biophysics , impeller , shear (geology) , biology , chemistry , cell , biochemistry , physics , mechanics , neuroscience , paleontology , botany
Bioluminescent dinoflagellates are flow‐sensitive marine organisms that produce light emission almost instantaneously upon stimulation by fluid shear in a shear stress dose‐dependent manner. In the present study we tested the hypothesis that monitoring bioluminescence by suspended dinoflagellates can be used as a tool to characterize cellular response to hydrodynamic forces in agitated bioreactors. Specific studies were performed to determine: (1) impeller configurations with minimum cell activation, (2) correlations of cellular response and an integrated shear factor, and (3) the effect of rapid acceleration in agitation. Results indicated that (1) at a volumetric mass transfer coefficient of 3 × 10 −4 s −1 , marine impeller configurations were less stimulatory than Rushton configurations, (2) bioluminescence response and a modified volumetric integrated shear factor had an excellent correlation, and (3) rapid acceleration in agitation was highly stimulatory, suggesting a profound effect of temporal gradients in shear in increasing cell stimulation. By using bioluminescence stimulation as an indicator of agitation‐induced cell stimulation and/or damage in microcarrier cultures, the present study allows for the verification of hypotheses and development of novel mechanisms of cell damage in bioreactors. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 83: 93–103, 2003.