Breakthrough Organ Preservation Technology: Achieving Long-Term and Safe Preservation of Cells and Organs
Release time:
2026-05-18
Organ shortage is one of the biggest challenges in global transplantation, and how to preserve donated organs for extended periods outside the body is a key bottleneck. Recently, a new study by the Cryomedicine Team at Shandong Yinfeng Life Science Research Institute (hereinafter referred to as Yinfeng Institute) and Professor Xu Yi’s team from the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology has provided a novel solution to this problem.
Behind the Organ Shortage
Organ transplantation is the only definitive treatment for end-stage organ failure, yet over 90% of patients waiting for transplants worldwide miss their opportunity due to insufficient preservation time of donor organs. Traditional static cold storage at 4°C can only maintain organ viability for 4–12 hours, and exceeding this time can lead to severe ischemia-reperfusion injury. Although ultra-low temperature freezing can better “pause” metabolism, uncontrolled ice crystal formation often directly destroys cells.
To address this challenge, the research team published an innovative study in Langmuir (a top-tier physical chemistry journal under the American Chemical Society, JCR Q2). The team developed a two-phase isochoric freezing system, successfully achieving precise control over the ice nucleation process, paving the way for non-toxic, long-term organ preservation. This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 52076140) and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2023M742370).
Breakthrough in Isochoric Freezing
Isochoric freezing is a cryopreservation technique that does not require cryoprotective agents (CPAs). It utilizes pressure-temperature coupling within a rigid, sealed chamber to suppress the disordered growth of ice crystals, offering stability and ease of transport, making it suitable for clinical organ transplantation needs. However, traditional single-phase isochoric freezing cannot precisely control ice nucleation, resulting in random freezing processes and significantly reduced preservation efficiency.
The core breakthrough of this study lies in two-phase separation and active nucleation control: a two-phase chamber was designed to physically isolate the sample chamber containing cells/organs from the external nucleation chamber. The two chambers contain preservation solution and freezing solution, respectively, allowing heat and pressure transfer without solute diffusion. Cholesterol crystal nucleating agents (highly biocompatible and a major component of cell membranes) were added to the freezing solution to precisely guide ice crystal formation in the external chamber, away from the sample chamber.
Experimental Validation Highlights Advantages
This design yielded significant results: at -4°C, an internal pressure of 43.8±3.7 MPa was generated, stably maintaining a supercooled state and reducing the probability of random freezing by 50%. The study also optimized the sample container, with 7 mL polyethylene (PE) tubes performing best, balancing temperature control efficiency and ice crystal suppression.
Cell experiment results were impressive: HEK293T cells subjected to two-phase isochoric freezing at -4°C for 24 hours achieved a survival rate of 92±3.1%. After 72 hours of preservation, cell proliferation capacity was significantly better than with traditional 4°C cold storage, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) damage was greatly reduced.
Clinical value: After 72 hours of isochoric freezing at -4°C, rat kidneys showed a 64±6.2% reduction in tissue malondialdehyde (an oxidative damage marker), stable activity of the key Na⁺/K⁺-ATP enzyme, and intact kidney tissue structure. In contrast, kidneys in the traditional 4°C cold storage group exhibited显著的 renal tubular necrosis, interstitial edema, and severe functional impairment.
Key advantages: non-toxic cryoprotective agents, avoiding clinical transplantation immune risks; precise ice control, preventing ice crystal damage to cells and tissues; long-term low-temperature preservation, maintaining high activity for up to 72 hours, far exceeding traditional cold storage times; broad compatibility, with stable use in various common preservation solutions such as pure water, saline, HTK, and UW.
Currently, this technology has been validated in cells and rat kidneys, providing a new research paradigm for organ preservation and laying a critical foundation for clinical translation. “Our goal is not to ‘freeze’ organs but to put them into a ‘dormant’ state at low temperatures so they can wake up and function normally,” said Liu Zhicheng, Vice Dean of Yinfeng Institute. The team’s next steps include advancing the technology toward human organs and longer preservation durations, followed by functional evaluations using normothermic machine perfusion and animal transplantation models.
Beyond organ transplantation, this non-toxic low-temperature preservation framework can be extended to long-term storage of stem cells, reproductive cells, and germplasm resources of endangered species, providing a universal technological foundation for biobanks, regenerative medicine, and other fields.
Further Reading: Langmuir, published by the American Chemical Society (ACS), is a leading journal in the fields of surface chemistry and interface science (JCR Q2), known for its high academic rigor. As a benchmark journal at the intersection of physical chemistry and materials science, Langmuir imposes stringent requirements for innovation and mechanistic depth. This publication marks authoritative international recognition of the Chinese team’s research on the physical mechanisms of cryobiomedicine.
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