New cryopreservation method is much better

Dream Big 18 Nov 2021

What can be cryopreserved better?:

"New computer model is a key step toward low-temperature preservation of 3D tissues, organs"

"Medical science is a key step closer to the cryopreservation of brain slices used in neurological research, pancreatic cells for the treatment of diabetes and even whole organs thanks to a new computer model that predicts how tissue's size will change during the preservation process."

How better?:

"Healthy cell survival following vitrification rose from about 10% with a conventional approach to greater than 80%."

Link:

https://today.oregon...-tissues-organs

Some of my thoughts:

Someone once mentioned to me that if Alcor removes the brain's natural fluid, it could ruin the brain. In any case, I would suggest storing anything removed in a jar along side you, including your computer, as your files say a ton about your memories and your body.

I am no expert on cryonics and I don't know exactly what they did or how useful it will be. But so far, it looks interesting enough to want to learn more about their work.

Edited by Dream Big, 18 November 2021 - 08:18 AM.

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Dream Big 27 Nov 2021

Here is the full paper. One thing I noticed was the article linked above stated that the cell survival increased a ton, but the paper mentions nothing about any such testing or in what way they survived (cloning? eating fish food (if used a fish?)?). Perhaps the article was hyping it. However the paper does mention the model, and that may be of great importance, even if there was no such real experiment yet.

They are on vacation until mid December, so we may need to wait to ask questions by email.

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Dream Big 30 Nov 2021

Oh, I guess I forgot to upload the paper (probably due to the 2nd needed click it requires to attach it). Here:

Attached Files

General tissue mass transfer model forcryopreservation applications --- 1-s2.0-S0006349521008730-main.pdf 2.55MB 1 downloads

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Mind 01 Dec 2021

Interesting. Thanks for sharing.

I didn't read the whole paper, but it seems to be saying that the model predicts better cryopreservation, but this method has not been tested in real tissues yet. Is that right?

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Dream Big 02 Dec 2021

I took another look at the article in my opening post, and see now some parts that mention ex. "earlier research", ah. Let me paste below the middle of the article that is all you need to read and I'll highlight some areas too to pay attention to. Then below I'll summarize what this probably means and answer your question:

“The problem is that these chemicals can cause osmotic damage due to water crossing cell membranes and causing the cells to burst,” Higgins said. “They can also kill cells due to toxicity. So in designing the best vitrification method, the trick is choosing the best path between normal physiological conditions and a final vitrified state – i.e., high CPA concentration and liquid nitrogen temperature.”

Hence the need for mathematical modeling. In earlier research involving a single layer of endothelial cells, which make up the lining of the circulatory system, Higgins and colleagues in the College of Engineering showed the value of a model that involved CPA toxicity, osmotic damage and mass transfer. The modeling uncovered an approach for loading CPA that was counterintuitive: inducing cells to swell.

The researchers found that if cells were initially exposed to a low CPA concentration and given time to swell, the sample could be vitrified after rapidly adding a high concentration. The upshot was much less overall toxicity, Higgins said. Healthy cell survival following vitrification rose from about 10% with a conventional approach to greater than 80%.

“The biggest single problem and limiting factor in vitrification is CPA toxicity and the swelling method was quite useful for addressing that,” he said. “Our new paper extends this line of research by presenting a new model of mass transfer in tissue; a key feature is that it allows for the prediction of tissue size changes.”

Higgins notes that there have been observations of multiple types of tissues changing size after exposure to CPA solutions; among them are cartilage, ovarian tissue and groups of cell in the pancreas known as islets. More likely than not, those size changes are important considerations for the design of methods for tissue vitrification, he said.

“The conventional mass transfer modeling approach is known as Fick’s law and that assumes tissue size remains constant,” Higgins said. “Our new model, which we used for two very different types of tissues, articular cartilage and pancreatic islets, opens the door to extending our previous mathematical optimization approach to the design of better methods for the cryopreservation of various tissue types.”

So by the looks of it now, this team has "been" uncovering solutions and their old experiment was the one that must have raised the cell survival rate from ~10% to 80%+, but only for a single cell layer of cells, not a 3D organ. Their new model appears to top /that/ and do even better, but has not been tested yet. Well, that's even more exciting by the sounds of it. The fact that they have made a single layer of cells freeze much safer than the older method, is a huge success. And the fact that they have planned out a new model for better freezing is even more exciting. Will it work on 3D tissues and big ones? I don't know, but it looks like they have made a lot of success.

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LONGECITY