Browsing by Author "Rego, D."
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- Control of predators in industrial scale microalgae cultures with Pulsed Electric Fields.Publication . Rego, D.; Luis Redondo; Geraldes, V.; Costa, Luiz; Navalho, J.; Pereira, Marcos TeotónioThis work describes the utilization of Pulsed Electric Fields to control the protozoan contamination of a microalgae culture, in an industrial 2.7m3 microalgae photobioreactor. The contaminated culture was treated with Pulsed Electric Fields, PEF, for 6h with an average of 900V/cm, 65μs pulses of 50Hz. Working with recirculation, all the culture was uniformly exposed to the PEF throughout the assay. The development of the microalgae and protozoan populations was followed and the results showed that PEF is effective on the selective elimination of protozoa from microalgae cultures, inflicting on the protozoa growth halt, death or cell rupture, without affecting microalgae productivity. Specifically, the results show a reduction of the active protozoan population of 87% after 6h treatment and 100% after few days of normal cultivation regime. At the same time, microalgae growth rate remained unaffected. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.
- Valorization of platelets with no therapeutic value with Pulsed Electric FieldsPublication . Rego, D.; Redondo, Luis; Sousa, A. P.; Abreu, S.; Serra, M.; Santo, V. E.Platelets are blood components with high biomedical potential due to their physiological role in wound healing and their rich growth factor content. This paper describes proof of concept experiments aimed to produce a new blood derived product by applying Pulsed Electric Fields (PEF) in platelet concentrates with no therapeutic value for transfusion medicine. A human platelet concentrate suspension was subjected to a PEF treatment of 1 pulse, 5 kV/cm, with 2 mu s. Release of Platelet Derived Growth Factor (PDGF) from the electroporated platelets was measured by ELISA. Furthermore, the biological activity of the obtained blood derived product was characterized. Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) were cultured in the presence of the proteins released from the platelets after PEF application and evaluated for their expansion potential. Results show that platelets concentrates submitted to a single PEF treatment can release PDGF to the supernatant. Protein release from the single and transient PEF cycle was confirmed by the expansion of hMSC cultured with a medium supplemented with platelet releasate obtained from electroporated platelets. These results support the valorization of platelet concentrates with no transfusion value that would otherwise be discarded. Applying PEF might allow the development of alternative releasate for different biomedical applications, namely stem cells culture.