Paclitaxel, a chemotherapeutic drug derived from the Taxus species, combats various forms of cancer, including ovarian and lung cancer. Traditional methods of harvesting paclitaxel from Pacific Yew trees are impractical due to slow growth rates and low yield concentrations. Plant cell culture (PCC) offers a viable alternative, which enables the controlled production of paclitaxel. Challenges like cellular aggregation hinder paclitaxel’s production. This MQP investigates the efficacy of an automated shearing device designed to decrease cellular aggregation. Manual and automated shearing techniques were compared in which the mean aggregate sizes and viability of Taxus suspension cultures were taken. It was found that manual shearing had steeper rates of disaggregation than automated shearing. This was because the automated shearing device was set to a speed of 7, whereas speed 10 would have been a more accurate representation of the speed of manual shearing. The viability of the suspension cultures remained relatively unchanged between both shearing methods. Various speeds on the shearing device were compared, and speed 10 exhibited the greatest decrease in mean aggregate size, therefore establishing the correlation that a higher flow rate corresponds to a larger decrease in mean aggregate size. Continuous shearing with the automated device was also tested. After said continuous shearing, mean aggregate sizes were able to recover their original sizes, and the viability of suspension cultures was left relatively unchanged.

• This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

Creator

• Smith, Jada
• Zajmi, Deah

Subject

• Industry
• Health

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• 121615
• E-project-042524-003408

Keyword

• automated shearing device
• paclitaxel

Advisor

• Roberts, Susan Celia
• Rauber, Caroline

Year

• 2024

Date created

• 2024-04-25

Resource type

• Major Qualifying Project

Major

• Chemical Engineering

Source

• E-project-042524-003408

Rights statement

• In Copyright