Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) are biological cryoprotectants with unique properties that play a crucial role in regulating the molecular mechanisms governing cold resistance in insects. To identify and characterize Apis cerana cerana AFP (AcerAFP), we cloned the full-length cDNA of AcerAFP and examined its expression patterns in A. cerana cerana. A nucleotide alignment analysis showed that the ent...

Mammalian spermatozoa experience osmotic stress when the glycerol is added to the cells before freezing and removal from the cells after thawing. To minimize osmotic damage, alternative cryoprotectants, having lower molecular weights and greater membrane permeability than glycerol, were evaluated to determine their effectiveness for cryopreserving bull spermatozoa. The primary goal of this stud...

the capability to preserve human oocytes, blastocysts, ovarian tissue and spermatozoa is an important tool in human assisted reproductive techniques. this preservation allows patients undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy to preserve their fertility, and helps to attain all benefits from the costly ovarian superovulation therapies prior to art. the primary goal in establishing an appropriate ...

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of different cryoprotectants like glycerol and DMSO individually and in combination of both on morphology of sheep oocytes using vitrification. The vitrification of sheep oocytes was performed using 40% glycerol and 40% DMSO individually and in combination of 20% glycerol + 20% DMSO. It was found that combination of cryoprotectants proved more...

As part of the ongoing effort to study the mechanical behavior of biological material during cryopreservation processes, the current study focuses on thermal expansion of blood vessels at low cryogenic temperatures. The current paper (Part I) describes a new experimental device for thermal expansion measurements of blood vessels in typical conditions of vitrification, which are associated with ...

Preconditioning of plant material prior to cryopreservation is beneficial for increasing the survival of plant tissues. Pretreatment of plant cells and tissues can be divided into three categories. Cultural pretreatments may involve growth medium, cold acclimation or consideration of the plant part used. Chemical treatments may be osmotic or penetrating cryoprotectants. Desiccation treatments m...

Diploidic germplasms such as embryos, compared to haploidic gametes, are theoretically a better choice for preservation of an animal species. However, there are significant challenges in cryopreservation of multicellular materials due to their size and physical complexity which affect the permeation of cryoprotectants and water, sensitivity to chilling and toxicity of cryoprotectants. While cry...

Mixed cryoprotectants have been developed for the solubilization of ligands for crystallization of protein-ligand complexes and for crystal soaking. Low affinity lead compounds with poor solubility are problematic for structural studies. Complete ligand solubilization is required for co-crystallization and crystal soaking experiments to obtain interpretable electron density maps for the ligand....