I-Corps: Antifreeze Polypeptide-Based System for Biopreservation

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力涉及对细胞、组织和器官保存的日益增长的需求，这导致了生物保存市场的快速扩张。防腐效果在很大程度上取决于生物保藏溶液或介质的技术，其中溶液中成分的性质和浓度起着至关重要的作用。常规(或常规)生物保存液中的试剂通常是醇基或盐基的，有相当大的缺点，包括低效、细胞毒性和环境影响。基于抗冻多肽(AFP)的体系技术可以克服传统试剂在生物保存液中的缺点。I-Corps团队将进行基于客户的研究，包括客户发现、市场研究和探索基于AFP的生物保存技术的商业应用，包括在客户发现期间建议的概念验证研究。这个i-Corps项目专注于一种改善生物保存的技术。抗冻多肽(AFP)和某些小分子是由鱼类、昆虫和植物等生物自然产生的，用于在极端寒冷的环境中生存。众所周知，AFP通过结合到特定的冰晶表面来抑制冰的生长。AFP的防冻作用是非综合性的，优于常规/常规防冻剂(如氯化钠、乙二醇)。最近，某些小分子被鉴定出来，它们不表现出非结合的防冻性能，但可以有效地增强AFP的防冻效果10倍以上。最近，除了冰之外，AFP在抑制晶体形成方面的作用也被揭示出来。特别是，AFP可以更有效地控制某些碳水化合物和核苷的结晶(与它们在控制冰结晶方面的作用相比)，这些分子通常在生物保存中充当保护分子。由于其高效、环保和多功能的特点，基于AFP的系统可能成为一种潜在的生物保存先进技术。这个i-Corps团队的目标是进一步调查这项技术对生物保留市场的价值。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project involves the increasing demand for cell, tissue, and organ preservation which has resulted in a fast-expanding market of biopreservation. Preservative effectiveness largely depends on the technology of biopreservation solutions or media, where the properties and concentrations of the ingredients in the solutions play essential roles. Regular (or conventional) reagents in biopreservation solutions are usually alcohol-based or salt-based, which have considerable drawbacks including low effectiveness, cytotoxicity, and environmental impact. The technology of Antifreeze Polypeptide-Based (AFP) system can overcome the drawbacks of conventional reagents in biopreservation solutions. The I-Corps team will conduct customer-based research that include customer discovery, market research, and exploring commercial applications of AFP-based technology for biopreservation including proof-of-concept studies suggested during customer discovery.This I-Corps project is focused on a technology to improve biopreservation. Antifreeze polypeptides (AFPs) and certain small molecules are naturally produced by organisms, such as fish, insects, and plants, for their survival in extreme cold environments. AFPs are known to inhibit ice growth by binding to specific ice crystal surfaces. The freezing inhibition by AFPs is non-colligative, which is superior to regular/conventional antifreezes (e.g., sodium chloride, ethylene glycol). Recently, certain small molecules that do not exhibit non-colligative antifreeze properties, but can efficiently enhance the antifreeze effect of AFP over 10 times have been identified. More recently, the role for AFPs in inhibiting the formation of crystals in addition to ice has been revealed. In particular, AFPs can control the crystallization of certain carbohydrates and nucleosides much more effectively (comparing to their role in controlling ice crystallization) where these molecules often act as protectant molecules in biopreservation. Because of its highly effective, eco-friendly, and multifunctional characteristics, the proposed AFP-based system could be a potential advanced technology for biopreservation. The goal of this I-Corps team is to further investigate the value of this technology to the biopreservation market.