Data from: Segregated water observed in a putative fish embryo cryopreservative

Development of new cryopreservation strategies has major potential in medicine and agriculture and is critical to the conservation of endangered species that currently cannot be preserved. A critical property of any potential cryopreservative solution is its ability to prevent cell-damaging ice formation during cooling and subsequent heating. This study focuses on the freezing behaviour of promising model cryoprotective solutions. We perform neutron scattering analysis, combined with computer modelling, of the water structure after quench cooling these solutions. It is found that water in this solution forms nano-clusters encapsulated by the surrounding matrix of cryoprotectant solute molecules. We posit that these small volumes inhibit ice formation, because water does not have space for the structural relaxation required to crystallize on the timescale of the cooling process.

新型低温保存（cryopreservation）策略的研发在医学与农业领域具备重大应用潜力，同时对于当前无法实现有效保存的濒危物种的保护工作至关重要。任何候选低温保存液的核心特性，均在于其可在降温及后续复温过程中，抑制导致细胞损伤的冰晶形成的能力。本研究聚焦于极具应用前景的模式低温保护（cryoprotective）溶液的冷冻行为。我们对经骤冷冷却（quench cooling）处理后的该类溶液开展了中子散射（neutron scattering）分析，并结合计算机建模手段，对其内部的水分子结构进行了研究。研究发现，该溶液中的水分子会形成纳米团簇（nano-clusters），并被周围的低温保护溶质分子基质所包裹。我们据此提出假设：这些微小的团簇能够抑制冰晶形成，原因在于在降温过程的时间尺度内，水分子没有足够空间完成结晶所需的结构弛豫（structural relaxation）过程。