AI Summary
This article discusses the importance of trehalose in cryopreservation, highlighting its potential applications, mechanisms, and intracellular delivery opportunities. Cryopreservation is essential in various fields such as immune and stem cell therapies, reproductive technology, and regenerative medicine. Trehalose, a non-reducing disaccharide, has shown promise as a cryoprotectant due to its ability to protect cells from damage caused by freezing temperatures. However, challenges such as low membrane permeability need to be addressed for its effective use. The article reviews the benefits of trehalose and explores chemical tools that can improve its function, including methods for intracellular delivery.
Cryopreservation is crucial to fields including immune and stem cell therapies, reproductive technology, blood banking, regenerative medicine and across all biotechnology. During cryopreservation, cryoprotectants are essential to protect cells from the damage caused by exposure to freezing temperatures. The most common penetrating cryoprotectants, such as DMSO and glycerol do not give full recovery and have a cytotoxicity limit on the concentration which can be applied. The non-reducing disaccharide trehalose has been widely explored and used to supplement these, inspired by its use in nature to aid survival at extreme temperatures and/or desiccation. However, trehalose has challenges to its use, particular its low membrane permeability, and how its protective role compares to other sugars. Here we review the application of trehalose and its reported benefit and seek to show where chemical tools can improve its function. In particular, we highlight emerging chemical methods to deliver (as cargo, or via selective permeation) into the intracellular space. This includes encapsulation, cell penetrating peptides or (selective) modification of hydroxyls on trehalose.
This article is Open Access
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