Dry Preservation of Red Blood Cells and Beyond
Location
Alan B. Levan NSU Broward Center of Innovation; Orbit 2
Event Website
https://nova.libcal.com/event/13091361
Start Date
15-11-2024 12:00 PM
End Date
15-11-2024 12:50 PM
Description
Transfusable RBCs have a limited shelf life of 42 days after donation due to detrimental storage effects on their physiological properties, and the lack of transfusable RBC units is a leading cause of preventable warfighter deaths in far-forward military settings and a logistic challenge for healthcare in remote locations. Methods to increase the shelf life of transfusible units in a desiccated state would allow for treatment at the point of injury, but viable freeze-dried RBCs do not exist. The failure to develop dry-preservation protocols for RBCs is surprising, considering some animals have evolved the propensity to survive fully desiccated for months to decades (anhydrobiotes) and resume life after exposure to water. For example, the encysted embryos of the brine shrimp Artemia franciscana accumulate high concentrations of the non-reducing sugar trehalose and intrinsically disordered polypeptides (e.g., LEAPs) before the onset of water stress to survive the removal of virtually all cellular water (anhydrobiotes). This seminar will introduce molecular mechanisms anhydrobiotic animals employ to survive desiccation and highlight the challenges of applying biomimetic approaches to engineer desiccation tolerance into RBCs. Furthermore, strategies for translating lab bench-based innovations into real-world solutions will be discussed.
Disclosure: Michael Menze has financial interests in the intellectual property of this research and founded DesiCorp, LLC, to commercialize invented technology.
About the Presenter
As an undergraduate student of Biology, Dr. Michael A. Menze was intrigued by the molecular mechanisms that allow animals to survive harsh environmental insults. He earned his doctoral degree in Physiology and Biophysics, pursuing a collaborative project between the Institute for Zoophysiology at the University of Duesseldorf and the Institute for Molecular Biophysics at the University of Mainz, Germany. During his doctoral training, he elucidated the role of allosteric regulation of respiratory pigments in the hypoxia tolerance of crustaceans. He continued his work on stress tolerance of animals during his postdoctoral work at Louisiana State University and Harvard Medical School. During this time, he started focusing on animals that can survive in a desiccated state and reanimate after exposure to water (anhydrobiosis). He primarily focused on the mechanisms of water-stress tolerance in invertebrates promoted by compatible organic osmolytes and proteaceous protectants to evaluate their potential for the biostabilization of clinically relevant cells and biologics.
After his postdoctoral training, he taught at Easter Illinois University in Charleston, IL, before joining the University of Louisville in Louisville, KY. Over the past several years at UofL, he served the Biology Department as Professor and Assistant Chair before being appointed Associate Dean for Research and Innovation in the College of Arts and Sciences. A variety of agencies, including the Department of Defense (DOD), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), provided funding for his work. Dr. Menze has published over 60 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, including in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Annual Review of Physiology, and the Journal of Biological Chemistry, and part of his work has led to patented intellectual property.
Dr. Menze continues to investigate the molecular basis of animal anhydrobiosis to develop biomimetic approaches to improve the long-term preservation of biologics. He uses various techniques to elucidate and utilize the biochemical strategies observed in stress-tolerant animals to address societal challenges. Current projects include the dry preservation of red blood cells for transfusion in austere environments, stabilizing biomedical-relevant model cell lines at room temperature, and the long-term storage of genetic model organisms such as the fruit fly Drosophila. Recent focus areas also include the role of protein intrinsic disorder in liquid-liquid phase separations and the formation of biomolecular condensates as a prerequisite for desiccation tolerance in animals.
Dry Preservation of Red Blood Cells and Beyond
Alan B. Levan NSU Broward Center of Innovation; Orbit 2
Transfusable RBCs have a limited shelf life of 42 days after donation due to detrimental storage effects on their physiological properties, and the lack of transfusable RBC units is a leading cause of preventable warfighter deaths in far-forward military settings and a logistic challenge for healthcare in remote locations. Methods to increase the shelf life of transfusible units in a desiccated state would allow for treatment at the point of injury, but viable freeze-dried RBCs do not exist. The failure to develop dry-preservation protocols for RBCs is surprising, considering some animals have evolved the propensity to survive fully desiccated for months to decades (anhydrobiotes) and resume life after exposure to water. For example, the encysted embryos of the brine shrimp Artemia franciscana accumulate high concentrations of the non-reducing sugar trehalose and intrinsically disordered polypeptides (e.g., LEAPs) before the onset of water stress to survive the removal of virtually all cellular water (anhydrobiotes). This seminar will introduce molecular mechanisms anhydrobiotic animals employ to survive desiccation and highlight the challenges of applying biomimetic approaches to engineer desiccation tolerance into RBCs. Furthermore, strategies for translating lab bench-based innovations into real-world solutions will be discussed.
Disclosure: Michael Menze has financial interests in the intellectual property of this research and founded DesiCorp, LLC, to commercialize invented technology.
About the Presenter
As an undergraduate student of Biology, Dr. Michael A. Menze was intrigued by the molecular mechanisms that allow animals to survive harsh environmental insults. He earned his doctoral degree in Physiology and Biophysics, pursuing a collaborative project between the Institute for Zoophysiology at the University of Duesseldorf and the Institute for Molecular Biophysics at the University of Mainz, Germany. During his doctoral training, he elucidated the role of allosteric regulation of respiratory pigments in the hypoxia tolerance of crustaceans. He continued his work on stress tolerance of animals during his postdoctoral work at Louisiana State University and Harvard Medical School. During this time, he started focusing on animals that can survive in a desiccated state and reanimate after exposure to water (anhydrobiosis). He primarily focused on the mechanisms of water-stress tolerance in invertebrates promoted by compatible organic osmolytes and proteaceous protectants to evaluate their potential for the biostabilization of clinically relevant cells and biologics.
After his postdoctoral training, he taught at Easter Illinois University in Charleston, IL, before joining the University of Louisville in Louisville, KY. Over the past several years at UofL, he served the Biology Department as Professor and Assistant Chair before being appointed Associate Dean for Research and Innovation in the College of Arts and Sciences. A variety of agencies, including the Department of Defense (DOD), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), provided funding for his work. Dr. Menze has published over 60 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, including in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Annual Review of Physiology, and the Journal of Biological Chemistry, and part of his work has led to patented intellectual property.
Dr. Menze continues to investigate the molecular basis of animal anhydrobiosis to develop biomimetic approaches to improve the long-term preservation of biologics. He uses various techniques to elucidate and utilize the biochemical strategies observed in stress-tolerant animals to address societal challenges. Current projects include the dry preservation of red blood cells for transfusion in austere environments, stabilizing biomedical-relevant model cell lines at room temperature, and the long-term storage of genetic model organisms such as the fruit fly Drosophila. Recent focus areas also include the role of protein intrinsic disorder in liquid-liquid phase separations and the formation of biomolecular condensates as a prerequisite for desiccation tolerance in animals.
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/biolectures/2024-2025/Schedule/2
Comments
Attendees are also invited to a small Focus Group Session to take place after the lecture, from 1-2 PM. PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED.
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Please be aware that space for the focus group is limited and we may not be able to accommodate all requests.