Gibson Group News
Extracellular Ice Nucleation Improves 2/3D Cryopreservation by Preventing Intracellular Ice
New Method to Cryopreserve 3-D Tissue Models Published in ACS AMI
Cell culture enables the study of biological process and the discover of new drugs and biomaterials outside of the body. However, culturing cells in 2-D is not always predictive of what cells do in 3D (inside the body). There is a need to make 3D cell models (which are harder to prepare) to enable predictive screening to predict outcomes in the body, without (or before) resorting to animal models. In our latest work we have developed a method to cryopreserve spheroids - 3-D assemblies of cells which are more predictive of physiological outcomes than normal 2D monolayers. We achieved this using our macromolecular cryoprotectants which mitigate cold damage by mechanisms that traditional cryoprotective agents dont address. We show that liver-cell spheroids can be recovered in high yield, are healthy and respond to drugs (i.e. toxicity testing) the same as fresh spheroids.
This work is important, as spheroids are known to be more predictive than 2D cell monolayers but the barrier to researchers to use them is high, developing the techniques and handling of the cells. By developing this method to freeze them, the spheroids can be prepared, banked and easily shared as a frozen product. This work was conducted in collaboration with our Biotech spin-out Cryologyx Ltd.
Read the paper here
Team Ice Awarded RSC Horizon Prize
We have been awarded a prestigious Horizon Prize from the Royal Society of Chemistry for our work on "development, application and translation of chemical tools for cryobiology". This is a TEAM prize, including our collaborators at Warwick: Sosso, Whale and Notman as well as our industrial partners Cytivia and Cryologyx (our spin out). There will be a big party to celebrate soon!
https://www.rsc.org/prizes-funding/prizes/2022-winners/team-ice/Link opens in a new window
Matt Awarded McBain Medal
Last year, Prof Matt Gibson was announced as the awardee of the 2021 McBain medal. On the 11th May, a special meeting was heldLink opens in a new window, where Matt was formally awarded the medal.
GibsonGroup COVID-19 work in Medical School Council Report
Our work highlighted in ERC Horizon Magazine
Our work on developing new materials which can impact the growth/formation of ice, and the development of macromolecular cryoprotectants has been featured in the ERC (European Research Council)'s Horizon Magazine. It also features some other exciting ERC-funded research in cryobiology.
CryoLogyx spun out to translate our research to industry
The new company Cryologyx has been formed, supported by a grant from InnovateUK. Cryologyx will use technology developed in our laboratories to transform how cells are frozen, and distributed. The company will be led by (soon to be former) postdoc Dr Tom Congdon, who will be CEO. Keep watching for more updates!
The Gibson Group is featured on BBC News
On Thursday 25th November, members of our team were interviewed by BBC midlands science correspondent David Gregory. This feature, which was the lead story on BBC Midlands TV news, discussed the teams effort to develop a faster, cheaper and easier to use coronavirus diagnostic. The team are making rapid progress and you can read the story here.