Design and Performance of an Automated Bioreactor for Cell Culture Experiments in a Microgravity Environment

Kim, Youn-Kyu; Park, Seul-Hyun; Choi, Gi-Hyuk

doi:10.5140/jass.2015.32.1.81

Cited by 5 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…However, the debubbling methods upon the buoyancy principle have become invalid under the microgravity condition. While a vacuum pump or a "back pressure" system has been used for bubble elimination in a space biological experiment instrument, 22,23 these components occupy the scarce space and the limited weight in the space platform and make the cell culture system more sophisticated, which increases the risk of contamination and decreases the hardware reliability. Hydrophobic membranes have been used as bubble traps in a spaceflight plant growth system, but the extended use deteriorates the membrane performances due to the biofilm formation.…”

Section: Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Peristaltic pumps are often used for the culture medium or other liquid supply in various space cell culture systems. 3,4,[20][21][22] This is attributed to its features in the following aspects: (i) the pump tubes can be separately autoclaved, which keeps the medium apart from those nonsterile parts; (ii) the flow rate and the flow direction can be simply adjusted by controlling the driving motor of the pump; and (iii) the size of the pump is relatively small, which helps to reduce the geometry and weight of the system. For a single cell, the change of gravitational potential energy is small and its effect could be interfered with by other physical conditions or environmental factors.…”

Section: Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

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An integration design of gas exchange, bubble separation, and flow control in a space cell culture system on board the SJ-10 satellite

Sun

Wang

Yang

et al. 2019

Review of Scientific Instruments

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Pathophysiological changes of astronauts under space microgravity involve complex factors and require an integrative perspective to fully understand the mechanisms. The readouts from space cell biology experiments strongly depend on the hardware and especially the cell bioreactor that is used in distinct spacecraft. Herein, a specialized cell culture bioreactor is designed for culturing mammalian cells on board the SJ-10 satellite. This hardware focuses mainly on satisfying the requirements of gas exchange, bubble separation, and flow control, as well as their functional and structural integration on cell culture within the technical and environmental constraints of the spacecraft platform under microgravity. A passive bubble separator is constructed and is connected in series to an individual cell culture chamber to remove the bubbles that were produced in orbit during cell growth. A moderate flow rate is preset to provide sufficient mass transfer and low shear stress in a well-designed flow circuit. Together with other modules of temperature control, in situ microscopic imaging, and online imaging acquisition, this novel space cell culture system is successfully used to culture human endothelial cells and rat bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells in the SJ-10 mission. The advantages and shortcomings of the integration design are discussed for this type of the hardware.

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Section: Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

An integration design of gas exchange, bubble separation, and flow control in a space cell culture system on board the SJ-10 satellite

Sun

Wang

Yang

et al. 2019

Review of Scientific Instruments

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show abstract

“…In order to conduct this assessment, conventional methods of using a camera 13 or verification through cell growth 15,16 might not be adequate. Instead, the media exchange performance was assessed using the Bradford assay in a spectrophotometer.…”

Section: Media Exchange Performance Testing Using the Bradford Assaymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this paper, we also intensively examined the culture exchange performance. In fact, we cannot prove that this is suitable for space experiments without actual space experiments, but we have developed a cell incubator that meets the media exchange and cell culture requirements set out by Kim et al 13 The bioreactor EM was developed through flow analysis and used to conduct a series of experiments that revealed that the automated bioreactor developed for space experiments satisfied the requirement of at least a 90% media exchange rate. In this study, a method of verifying media circulation was proposed using the Bradford assay.…”

Section: Tests For Cell Growth With or Without Medium Exchangementioning

confidence: 99%

“…To this end, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) began the development of an automated bioreactor for space experiments. In 2015, Kim et al 13 determined the system requirements for an automated bioreactor for space experiments and manufactured a bioreactor development model (DM) to carry out environmental testing with constant temperature and humidity, and observation-based performance testing of the media exchange performance using a camera.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Media Exchange Performance Test Using the Bradford Assay in an Automated Bioreactor Engineering Model for Space Experiments

Lee

Kim

et al. 2019

SLAS Technology

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Life science research has been actively carried out in space for a long time using bioreactor equipment, in anticipation of manned space exploration and space tourism. Such studies have reported that the microgravity environment has a negative effect on the human body, including the musculoskeletal system, nervous system, and endocrine system. Bone loss and muscular atrophy are issues that need to be resolved before long-term exposure of the human body to a space environment. To address this problem, Y. K. Kim et al. designed a system in 2015 and performed an evaluation of an automated bioreactor development model (DM) for space experiments. In this study, we developed an automated bioreactor engineering model (EM) based on the previous literature, and conducted media exchange performance testing using the Bradford assay. We used a novel method that allowed quantitative assessment of the media exchange rate versus the conventional assessment method using visual observation with a camera. By measuring the media exchange rate of the automated bioreactor EM, we attempted to verify applicability for the system for space experiments. We expect that the experimental method proposed in this study is useful for logical determination of liquid exchange or circulation in different closed systems.

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3D Bioprinting in Microgravity: Opportunities, Challenges, and Possible Applications in Space

Ombergen

Chalupa-Gantner

Chansoria

et al. 2023

Adv Healthcare Materials

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Abstract3D bioprinting has developed tremendously in the last couple of years and enables the fabrication of simple, as well as complex, tissue models. The international space agencies have recognized the unique opportunities of these technologies for manufacturing cell and tissue models for basic research in space, in particular for investigating the effects of microgravity and cosmic radiation on different types of human tissues. In addition, bioprinting is capable of producing clinically applicable tissue grafts, and its implementation in space therefore can support the autonomous medical treatment options for astronauts in future long term and far‐distant space missions. The article discusses opportunities but also challenges of operating different types of bioprinters under space conditions, mainly in microgravity. While some process steps, most of which involving the handling of liquids, are challenging under microgravity, this environment can help overcome problems such as cell sedimentation in low viscous bioinks. Hopefully, this publication will motivate more researchers to engage in the topic, with publicly available bioprinting opportunities becoming available at the International Space Station (ISS) in the imminent future.

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Design and Performance of an Automated Bioreactor for Cell Culture Experiments in a Microgravity Environment

Cited by 5 publications

References 2 publications

An integration design of gas exchange, bubble separation, and flow control in a space cell culture system on board the SJ-10 satellite

An integration design of gas exchange, bubble separation, and flow control in a space cell culture system on board the SJ-10 satellite

Media Exchange Performance Test Using the Bradford Assay in an Automated Bioreactor Engineering Model for Space Experiments

3D Bioprinting in Microgravity: Opportunities, Challenges, and Possible Applications in Space

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