HUANG Wei 1,2,3 , LI Weijie 1,2,3 , LIU Baolin 1,2,3
  • 1. Institute of Biothermal Science and Technology, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, P. R. China;
  • 2. Shanghai Co-innovation Center for Energy Therapy of Tumors, Shanghai 200093, P. R. China;
  • 3. Shanghai Technical Service Platform for Cryopreservation of Biological Resources, Shanghai 200093, P. R. China;
LI Weijie, Email: liweijie10@139.com
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The freeze-drying is a technology that preserves biological samples in a dry state, which is beneficial for storage, transportation, and cost saving. In this study, the bovine pericardium was treated with a freeze-drying protectant composed of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and trehalose (Tre), and then freeze-dried. The results demonstrated that the mechanical properties of the pericardium treated with PEG + 10% w/v Tre were superior to those of the pericardium fixed with glutaraldehyde (GA). The wet state water content of the rehydrated pericardium, determined using the Karl Fischer method, was (74.81 ± 1.44)%, which was comparable to that of the GA-fixed pericardium. The dry state water content was significantly reduced to (8.64 ± 1.52)%, indicating effective dehydration during the freeze-drying process. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) testing revealed that the thermal shrinkage temperature of the pericardium was (84.96 ± 0.49) ℃, higher than that of the GA-fixed pericardium (83.14 ± 0.11) ℃, indicating greater thermal stability. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results showed no damage to the protein structure during freeze-drying. Hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining demonstrated that the freeze-drying process reduced pore formation, prevented ice crystal growth, and resulted in a tighter arrangement of tissue fibers. The frozen-dried bovine pericardium was subjected to tests for cell viability and hemolysis rate. The results revealed a cell proliferation rate of (77.87 ± 0.49)%, corresponding to a toxicity grade of 1. Additionally, the hemolysis rate was (0.17 ± 0.02)%, which is below the standard of 5%. These findings indicated that the frozen-dried bovine pericardium exhibited satisfactory performance in terms of cytotoxicity and hemolysis, thus meeting the relevant standards. In summary, the performance of the bovine pericardium treated with PEG + 10% w/v Tre and subjected to freeze-drying could meet the required standards.

Citation: HUANG Wei, LI Weijie, LIU Baolin. Effects of freeze-drying bovine pericardium using a combination of polyethylene glycol and trehalose. Journal of Biomedical Engineering, 2024, 41(2): 368-375. doi: 10.7507/1001-5515.202311035 Copy

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