Comments by J. C. Spencer

A University research project has uploaded the sugar trehalose into human red blood cells to stabilize them in preparation for powdering blood through cryogenics. The technology for preserving blood in powdered form has long been a dream of scientists. The implications can save countless lives with the ability for long term storage of blood especially for the battlefield, rural areas, and developing countries. Trehalose was enticed into the cell with electroporation, an electro-mechanical method used to introduce polar molecules into a host cell through the cell membrane. The electric pulse procedure temporarily disturbs the phospholipid bilayer. Scientists have induced electroporation to manipulate genes and cells.

Here in Texas, we have used a more natural means, alkaline electrolytes to upload trehalose and nanominerals to the human body in a complex designed to help increase the pH of the cell. Our work is explained in The Trehalose Handbook which is an educational project of The Endowment for Medical Research and can be downloaded without charge from the Download Store at www.endowmentmed.org [for a period of time]. Interested individuals may request more information and possible participation in a six month self-funding General Health Evaluation Pilot Survey. Participants will utilize a nutritionally fortified Trehalose pH Fusion Tea containing bio-available ionic trace minerals in a dry phytochemical fulvic acid compound. Supplemental funding is available for participants who register for the six-month Pilot Survey at [email protected]

Now the Abstract.

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LOADING TREHALOSE INTO RED BLOOD CELLS BY ELECTROPORATION AND ITS APPLICATION IN FREEZE-DRYING

Xinli Zhou, Ji Yuan, Jianfeng Liu and Baolin Liu
Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China.
Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Freeze-drying is one potentially ideal method for long-term storage of red blood cells (RBCs). Intracellular trehalose is believed to be an effective protectant to stabilize cells during freezing and drying. In this study, we adopted electroporation to load trehalose into human RBCs first. The effects of electroporation parameters (extracellular trehalose concentration, field strength, pulse length and frequency) on loading efficiency were studied. The results show that RBCs can be loaded with 63.7 mM trehalose at 800 mM extracellular trehalose concentration, 1.5 kV/cm,field strength, 1 ms pulse length, 4 pulses in one minute. Then, RBCs loaded with different amount of trehalose by electroporation were freeze-dried and rehydrated. Recovery rates of trehalose-loaded and freeze-dried RBCs increased with intracellular trehalose concentration. The recovery rate of RBCs loaded with 63.7 mM trehalose reached 70.9 %. In conclusion, electroporation is an effective method for loading of nonpermeating trehalose into RBCs and therefore benefit freeze-drying of RBCs.

Keywords: Electroporation; trehalose; freeze-drying; red blood cell

CryoLetters 31 (2), 147-156 (2010)
� CryoLetters, [email protected]

See the Davidson University website for the report.

www.endowmentmed.org