Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have emerged as a set of intrinsically "designer solvents" for many bio-applications such as DNA nanotechnology and biocatalysis. However, the high viscosity of DESs tends to prevent bioactive components from being incorporated into the solvent. Although dilution with water may effectively reduce the viscosity of DES, the effect of water on its cooperative hydrogen-bonding network has not been evaluated systematically. This study conducted a series of molecular dynamics simulations on the DES made of choline chloride and glycerol at different hydration levels. We discovered a Janus-faced role of water in defining the interactive network between choline chloride and glycerol. Chloride played a critical role in bridging choline and glycerol in the anhydrous mixture. But the addition of water results in the decrease in the number of choline-chloride-glycerol supramolecular complexes and the number of hydrogen bonds between choline and glycerol, demonstrating the de-structuring effect of water. Interestingly, we also found that water could link choline to glycerol in place of chloride. The structuring role of water in bridging choline and glycerol reached its maximum in the presence of 35.8 wt% water. The findings in this study will provide valuable guidance to determine the optimal water content that can sufficiently "liquidize" DESs and meanwhile maintain the majority of the eutectic stoichiometry in the DESs, paving the way for tapping the full potential of DESs as the intrinsically "designer solvents".

Ice formation is a ubiquitous process that poses serious challenges for many areas. Nature has evolved a variety of different mechanisms to regulate ice formation. For example, many cold-adapted species produce antifreeze proteins (AFPs) and/or antifreeze glycoproteins (AFGPs) to inhibit ice recrystallization. Although several synthetic substitutes for AF(G)Ps have been developed, the fundamental principles of designing AF(G)P mimics are still missing. In this study, we explored the molecular dynamics of ice recrystallization inhibition (IRI) by poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), a well-recognized ice recrystallization inhibitor, to shed light on the otherwise hidden ice-binding mechanisms of chain polymers. Our molecular dynamics simulations revealed a stereoscopic, geometrical match between the hydroxyl groups of PVA and the water molecules of ice, and provided microscopic evidence of the adsorption of PVA to both the basal and prism faces of ice and the incorporation of short-chain PVA into the ice lattice. The length of PVA, i.e., the number of hydroxyl groups, seems to be a key factor dictating the performance of IRI, as the PVA molecule must be large enough to prevent the joining together of adjacent curvatures in the ice front. The findings in this study will help pave the path for addressing a pressing challenge in designing synthetic ice recrystallization inhibitors rationally, by enriching our mechanistic understanding of IRI process by macromolecules.

The state of intracellular water is important in all phases of cryopreservation. Intracellular water can be transported out of the cell, transferred into its solid phase, or blocked by cryoprotectants and proteins in the cytoplasm. The purpose of the present study is to determine the amount of hydrogen-bonded water in aqueous ethylene glycol and glycerol solutions. The effects of temperature and concentration on the density and the hydrogen bonding characteristics of the solution are evaluated quantitatively in this study. To achieve these aims, a series of molecular dynamics simulations of ethylene glycol/water and glycerol/water mixtures of molalities ranging from 1 to 5 m are conducted at 1 atm and at 273, 285, and 298 K, respectively. The simulation results show that temperature and concentration have variable effects on solution density. The proportion of the hydrogen-bonded water by solute molecules increases with rising molality. The ability of the solute molecules to hydrogen bond with water molecules weakens as the solution becomes more concentrated. Moreover, it turns out that the solution concentration can influence the hydrogen bonding characteristics more greatly than the temperature. The glycerol molecule should be a stronger "water blocker" than the ethylene glycol molecule corresponding to the same conditions. These findings provide insight into the cryoprotective mechanisms of ethylene glycol and glycerol in aqueous solutions, which will confer benefits on the cryopreservation.

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Successful stabilization and preservation of biological materials often utilize low temperatures and dehydration to arrest molecular motion. Cryoprotectants are routinely employed to help the biological entities survive the physicochemical and mechanical stresses induced by cold or dryness. Molecular interactions between biomolecules, cryoprotectants, and water fundamentally determine the outcomes of preservation. The optimization of assays using the empirical approach is often limited in structural and temporal resolution, whereas classical molecular dynamics simulations can provide a cost-effective glimpse into the atomic-level structure and interaction of individual molecules that dictate macroscopic behavior. Computational research on biomolecules, cryoprotectants, and water has provided invaluable insights into the development of new cryoprotectants and the optimization of preservation methods. We describe the rapidly evolving state of the art of molecular simulations of these complex systems, summarize the molecular-scale protective and stabilizing mechanisms, and discuss the challenges that motivate continued innovation in this field.

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Vitrification of sugar-based solutions plays an important role in cryopreservation, lyophilization, and the emerging field of anhydrous preservation. An understanding of the glass transition characteristics of such formulations is essential for determining an appropriate storage temperature to ensure an extended shelf life of vitrified products. To better understand the effect of salt son the glass transition temperature (Tg) of glass-forming sugars, we investigated several data-fitting models (Fox, Gordon-Taylor and Kwei) for sugar-salt formulations using data from the literature, as well as new data generated on blends of trehalose and choline dihydrogen phosphate (CDHP). CDHP has recently been shown to have promise as a stabilizing agent for proteins and DNA. The Kwei equation, which has a specific parameter characterizing intermolecular interactions, provides good fits to the Tg data for sugar-salt blends, and complements other commonly used models that are frequently used to model Tg data.

Ice nucleation is of fundamental significance in many areas, including atmospheric science, food technology, and cryobiology. In this study, we investigated the ice-nucleation characteristics of picoliter-sized drops consisting of different D2O and H2O mixtures with and without the ice-nucleating bacteria Pseudomonas syringae. We also studied the effects of commonly used cryoprotectants such as ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, and trehalose on the nucleation characteristics of D2O and H2O mixtures. The results show that the median freezing temperature of the suspension containing 1 mg/mL of a lyophilized preparation of P. syringae is as high as −4.6 °C for 100% D2O, compared to −8.9 °C for 100% H2O. As the D2O concentration increases every 25% (v/v), the profile of the ice-nucleation kinetics of D2O + H2O mixtures containing 1 mg/mL Snomax shifts by about 1 °C, suggesting an ideal mixing behavior of D2O and H2O. Furthermore, all of the cryoprotectants investigated in this study are found to depress the freezing phenomenon. Both the homogeneous and heterogeneous freezing temperatures of these aqueous solutions depend on the water activity and are independent of the nature of the solute. These findings enrich our fundamental knowledge of D2O-related ice nucleation and suggest that the combination of D2O and ice-nucleating agents could be a potential self-ice-nucleating formulation. The implications of self-nucleation include a higher, precisely controlled ice seeding temperature for slow freezing that would significantly improve the viability of many ice-assisted cryopreservation protocols.