Expedited Award for Novel Research: The Use of Antifreeze Glycopeptides from Antarctic Fish to Modify the Freezing Pattern in Mammalian Organs

到目前为止，在冷冻状态下保存哺乳动物器官方面没有取得成功，这是由于冷冻期间血管扩张导致血管结构完整性的破坏，从而使器官变得不起作用。当器官被冻结时，冰首先在血管中形成，排除来自附近细胞的溶质进入尚未冻结的血管内水，导致血管系统扩张。为了改变这种有害的冷冻模式，提出了一种新的方法，即在南极鱼类血液中加入特殊的抗冻剂糖肽进行冷冻。糖肽将排出的溶质包裹在冰结构中的通道内，从而减少或阻止细胞内水的外流。冷冻实验将在定向凝固阶段进行，组织组织学将使用低温扫描电子显微镜进行检查。整个器官的长期保存将大大改变移植程序，并增加有需要的患者获得重要器官的机会。如果提出的假设得到证实，通过冷冻保存整个肝脏的可能性将大大提高。

The lack of success to date in preservation of mammalian organs in a frozen state is attributable to the disruption of the structural integrity of blood vessels caused by vasculature expansion during freezing, such that the organ becomes non- functional. As an organ is being frozen, ice first forms in the blood vessels, excluding solutes into the yet unfrozen intravascular water from nearby cells, resulting in the expansion of the vasculature. To modify this detrimental freezing pattern, a novel method is proposed to freeze in the presence of special antifreeze glycopeptides from the blood of Antarctic fish. The glycopeptides entrap excluded solutes within channels in the ice structures, and thus reduce or prevent efflux of intracellular water. Freezing experiments will be done on a directional solidification stage, and tissue histology will be examined using a low termperature scanning electron microscope. The long term preservation of whole organs would significantly alter transplant procedures and increase the availability of vital organs for needy patients. If the proposed hypothesis is confirmed, the possibility of preserving whole livers by freezing will be greatly enhanced.