Solving Donor Organ Shortage with Insights from Freeze Tolerance in Nature

Abstract

The North American wood frog, Rana sylvatica, endures seasonal whole-body freezing during the winter and thawing during the spring without sustaining any apparent damage from ice or oxidative stress. Strategies from these frogs may solve the shortage of human donor organs, which is a multidisciplinary problem that can be alleviated by eliminating geographical boundaries. Rana sylvatica deploys an array of molecular and physiological responses, such as glucose production and microRNA regulation, to help it survive the cold. These strategies have been adapted in the lab to impart cryotolerance in liver cells, and the non-freezing supercooled storage of transplantable rat livers - milestones that have advanced the field toward cryopreserving human donor organs in the clinic. In this review, a case is presented for the use of non-coding RNAs to decrease oxidative damage of donor organs by activating endogenous antioxidant systems prior to procurement.

Applying nanotechnology to cryopreservation studies: Status and future

“…(a) 血管组织纳米磁感应加热复温 [27] : 将载有保护剂及纳米颗粒的冷冻组织置于交 变磁场中, 磁感应线圈激发纳米颗粒快速、均匀加热, 避免组织复温过程中的损伤并保证其后续可测试、使用性; (b) 利用微波天线电磁加热效 应, EC2冷冻溶液样品复温过程中的温度分布 [48] Figure 7 (Color online) Improved and rapid rewarming of frozen samples using magnetic nanoparticles. (a) Blood vessel tissue rewarming using inductive heating of magnetic nanoparticles [27] : Vitrified tissue loaded with cryoprotectant and nanoparticles is placed in an alternating magnetic field, an inductive coil stimulates rapid and uniform heating of nanoparticles in the tissue, which avoids warming failure and ensures further testing or use of the tissue; (b) temperature distribution in the frozen EC2 solution sample, during microwave antenna rewarming process [48] [55] . Stubbs等人 [56] Currently, cryopreservation is considered as one of the most effective methods for preserving biological samples, such as biological molecules, cells, tissues and organs.…”

Comparative Physiology as an Idea Factory for Preserving and Freezing Organs and Cells for Transplantation

“…However, the means of applying such molecules to the preservation and cryopreservation are not yet fully elucidated. Nevertheless, the proposal, as set out in this issue of BioEssays, is very interesting, and contributes significantly to the state of the art of preservation and freezing of organs and cells for transplantation.…”

“…It is currently known that the adaptations of freeze-tolerant animals include a high concentration of polyols (particularly glycerol and glucose), disaccharides (in particular trehalose), and other antifreeze compounds. Nevertheless, the proposal, [5] as set out in this issue of BioEssays, is very interesting, and contributes significantly to the state of the art of preservation and freezing of organs and cells for transplantation. Storey and Storey [4] have shown that the wood frog is capable of activating its endogenous antioxidant systems and other prosurvival cell signaling pathways as a response to the stress resulting from the freezing and thawing process.…”

Sub-Zero Non-Freezing of Vascularized Composite Allografts Preservation in Rodents

“…Drawing inspiration from biomimicry [ 14 ], novel organ preservation technologies utilizing negative temperatures have been developed to prolong graft preservation [ 15 ]. Among these, Sub-Zero Non-Freezing (SZNF) protocols aim to achieve negative temperatures without ice nucleation, enabling slower metabolism while avoiding freezing injuries.…”