Polyproline is a minimal antifreeze protein mimetic and enhances the cryopreservation of cell monolayers
Tissue engineering, gene therapy, drug screening and emerging regenerative medicine therapies are fundamentally reliant on high-quality adherent cell culture, but current methods to cryopreserve cells in this format can give low cell yields and requires large volumes of solvent 'antifreezes'. Herein we report polyproline is a minimum (bio)synthetic mimic of antifreeze proteins, which is accessible by solution, solid phase and recombinant methods. We demonstrate that polyproline has ice recrystallization inhibition activity linked to its amphipathic helix and that it enhances the DMSO- cryopreservation of adherent cell lines. Polyproline may be a versatile additive in the emerging field of macromolecular cryoprotectants.
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