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For the first time ever, scientists successfully freeze and thaw brain tissue without damage

Published in Brain/Neurology, General News, Tech News, Vitrification.

This significant development could revolutionize brain research by allowing long-term storage of brain tissue samples.

A groundbreaking study by a team at the National Children’s Medical Center, Children’s Hospital, Fudan University in China, has unveiled a method to freeze and thaw brain tissue without causing any damage. This significant development, published in the journal Cell Reports Methods, could revolutionize brain research by allowing long-term storage of brain tissue samples.

The team, led by Dr. Liu Zhang, focused on brain organoid tissue—miniature, simplified versions of the brain grown from stem cells.

Prior studies have consistently shown that brain tissue, when frozen and thawed, undergoes damage regardless of the speed of the process. This damage has posed a significant obstacle for researchers who need to examine brain matter promptly after obtaining samples. Dr. Zhang and her team have discovered a solution to this problem by immersing the tissue in a special chemical solution before freezing.

The researchers conducted their experiments by soaking brain organoids in various chemical compounds before freezing them with liquid nitrogen. After numerous trials, they identified a combination of ethylene glycol, methylcellulose, DMSO, and Y27632 as the most effective. This mixture, which they named MEDY, demonstrated the best results in preserving the integrity of the brain tissue.

To ensure the reliability of MEDY, the team tested it under various conditions, adjusting factors such as the age of the organoids before freezing and the duration they were soaked in the solution.

They then allowed the organoids to grow for up to 150 days after thawing. The results were remarkable—there was little to no difference between the organoids that had been frozen and those that had not, even after 18 months of freezing.

Dr. Zhang explained, “We were amazed to find that our MEDY solution could preserve the organoids so well. This opens up new possibilities for long-term brain tissue storage and could significantly impact the study of neurological diseases.”

In a final validation of their technique, the researchers applied their method to a sample of brain tissue from a live human patient. The results were consistent with their earlier findings, demonstrating that MEDY could effectively preserve human brain tissue.

https://www.thebrighterside.news/post/for-the-first-time-ever-scientists-successfully-freeze-and-thaw-brain-tissue-without-damage/