Non-toxic antifreeze for donated blood
The new cryoprotector does not dilute blood
Kirill Stasevich, Compulenta
It is better not to freeze cells and organs during storage, if you want them to be at least somewhat alive, that is, so that organs, for example, continue to do their job after transplantation. This is relevant both for fundamental research and for medicine: the fate of many patients depends on whether doctors have "extra" bone marrow or, say, just blood for transfusion. However, it is necessary to store biological material at a reduced temperature, and the lower it is, the better the cells. But how to make sure that the temperature is moderately low, and the cells from the ice are not damaged?
The obvious answer is to use cryoprotectors – substances that prevent the crystallization of water when the temperature of the medium drops below the freezing point. There are many cryoprotectors invented today, and some of them are used in medicine. For example, when you need to keep a supply of donated blood, some organic substance (glycerin or dimethyl sulfoxide) is added to it, which reduces the freezing point. The problem, however, is that this organic additive needs to be added very abundantly, and sometimes up to a liter of antifreeze solvent per liter of blood. And it is impossible to transfuse such blood, so the cryoprotector must be removed from it before use, and this may take several days.
The results of the work of researchers from the University of Warwick (UK) may solve this problem. Matthew I. Gibson and his colleagues proposed a polymer that has cryoprotective properties, but which can be added in much smaller quantities than conventional "anti-icing" solvents.
This polymer belongs to polyvinyl alcohols, and when searching for it, scientists focused on cryoprotective glycoproteins from the tissues of northern fish, whose blood does not freeze at temperatures below zero.
According to the authors of the work in Nature Communications (Deller et al., Synthetic polymers enable non-vitreous cellular cryopreservation by reducing ice crystal growth during thawing), the polymer synthesized by them successfully suppresses the formation of ice crystals, being only 0.1% of the blood volume: a striking difference from the 20% that are required on average when using conventional cryoprotectors.
In addition, scientists assure that this polymer in such an amount will not harm the body, so that blood with it can be used immediately.
However, so far, scientists have tested the new antifreeze only on human and sheep blood samples, so the harmlessness of the novelty has yet to be verified in additional experiments. In addition, you need to make sure that this substance can maintain blood (and other biomedical samples) in a biologically acceptable state for more or less a long time.
Prepared based on the materials of the University of Warwick: Arctic cod inspire a new way to help hospitals keep blood on ice.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru06.02.2014