With an ever-ageing population in the Western world, the need for regenerative medicine, especially transplantation is increasing, but the number of donors remains static. Therefore improved storage methods for cells/tissues/organs is urgently required to overcome their limited shelf life. This is also a challenge in fundamental biology, where the cryostorage of many cell types is still not possible, or leads to sub-standard performance of the cells. Antifreeze glycoproteins (AFGPs) from polar fish, slow ice crystal growth and may find application in cryopreservation, but are limited by their extremely high costs, challenging synthesis, and potential toxicity. To address this, we have developed synthetic polymers, which can reproduce the desirable properties of AFGPs, without the side effects, at lower cost. Here I will discuss our efforts to rationally design new AFGP mimetic materials using both synthetic and biological methods, and their application to enhance cell storage.
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