With an ever-ageing population in the Western world, the need for regenerative medicine, especially transplantation is increasing, but the methods to cryopreserve (and hence distribute) these cells and tissue still relies on addition of high concentrations of toxic organic solvents. We seek to create new macromolecular solutions to address this problem.<br/>Antifreeze (glyco) proteins are found in many species adapted to live in the polar regions or at high altitudes, in sub-zero temperatures. These act to slow ice growth and also suppress the freezing point which are desirable properties for new cryoprotectants, but the proteins themselves may not be suitable for application. To address this challenge we have developed a range of synthetic polymer materials which can reproduce the properties of antifreeze proteins and ice nucleating proteins, but by using simplified structures, and scalable synthetic methods.<br/>Using our new biomaterials we have been able to improve the cryopreservation and storage of several medically relevant cells including blood and primary hepatocytes, primarily be reducing the ice-induced damage during the thawing process. This contribution will discuss the progress in both understanding the mechanisms of action of these materials and their impact on cells for transfusion medicine.

Rational design of antifreeze-protein mimetic materials to enable the cryopreservation of cells

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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