Cryoprotectant

A cryoprotectant is a substance used to protect biological tissue from freezing damage (i.e. that due to ice formation). Arctic and Antarctic insects, fish and amphibians create cryoprotectants (antifreeze compounds and antifreeze proteins) in their bodies to minimize freezing damage during cold winter periods. Cryoprotectants are also used to preserve living materials in the study of biology and to preserve food products.

Cryoprotectants operate by increasing the solute concentration in cells. However, in order to be biologically viable they must easily penetrate cells and must not be toxic to cells.

Some cryoprotectants function by lowering the glass transition temperature of a solution or of a material. In this way, the cryoprotectant prevents actual freezing, and the solution maintains some flexibility in a glassy phase. Many cryoprotectants also function by forming hydrogen bonds with biological molecules as water molecules are displaced. Hydrogen bonding in aqueous solutions is important for proper protein and DNA function. Thus, as the cryoprotectant replaces the water molecules, the biological material retains its native physiological structure and function, although they are no longer immersed in an aqueous environment. This preservation strategy is most often utilized in anhydrobiosis.

Mixtures of cryoprotectants have less toxicity and are more effective than single-agent cryoprotectants. A mixture of formamide with DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide), propylene glycol, and a colloid was for many years the most effective of all artificially created cryoprotectants. Cryoprotectant mixtures have been used for vitrification (i.e. solidification without crystal ice formation). Vitrification has important applications in preserving embryos, biological tissues and organs for transplant. Vitrification is also used in cryonics, in an effort to eliminate freezing damage.

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