In Vitro Simulation of Solid-Solid Dehydration, Rehydration, and Solidification of Trehalose Dihydrate Using Thermal and Vibrational Spectroscopic Techniques

PURPOSE: The processes of dehydration, rehydration, and solidification of trehalose dihydrate were examined to simulate it in the drying and wetting states. METHODS: Techniques included differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) microspectroscopy combined with thermal analysis. Trehalose dihydrate was pressed on one KBr pellet (IKBr method) or sealed within two KBr pellets (2KBr method) for FT-IR measurement. RESULTS: On the DSC thermogram, the shoulder between 60 degrees C and 80 degrees C represented a transitional change because no weight loss occurred in this area of the TGA curve. The endothermic peak at 100 degrees C represented dehydration of trehalose dihydrate to anhydrous trehalose; a 9.5% weight loss in the TGA curve occurred from 81 degrees C. The thermal-dependent FT-IR spectra for trehalose dihydrate prepared by the IKBr method changed markedly with temperature in the 1800-1500 cm(-1) region during dehydration. IR peak intensity at 1687 cm(-1) assigned to the bending vibrational mode of solid-like water declined with temperature and decreased sharply at 67 degrees C. Another IR peak at 1640 cm(-1) associated with the bending of liquid water increased at 67 degrees C but disappeared at 79 degrees C as a result of water evaporation. Both peaks for the sample prepared by the 2KBr method changed dramatically at 64 degrees C; peak intensity at 1640 cm(-1) remained constant above 64 degrees C. CONCLUSIONS: A new polymorphic transition of trehalose dihydrate was first evidenced at 64-67 degrees C from both DSC curves and thermal-related FT-IR spectra. This transitional temperature reflected the thermal-dependent transformation from solid-like water to liquid water in the trehalose dihydrate structure during dehydration. During rehydration, trehalose anhydrate was rehydrated to the dihydrate, and liquid water in the dihydrate structure was again transformed to solid-like water. The polymorphic transition within this temperature range seems to correlate with the bioprotective effect of trehalose dihydrate in preserving protein stability.     

Single Ingestion of Trehalose Enhances Prolonged Exercise Performance by Effective Use of Glucose and Lipid in Healthy Men

Trehalose increases blood glucose levels slowly and induces a slight insulin response. The present study aimed to study the effect of trehalose on prolonged exercise performance. The participants were 12 healthy men (age: 21.3 ± 0.9 y). After an overnight fast (12 h), they first exercised with a constant load (intensity: 40% V˙O₂peak) for 60 min using a bicycle ergometer. They continued to exercise with a constant load (40% V˙O₂peak) for 30 min between four sets of the 30-s Wingate test. After the 1st set, each participant ingested 500 mL water (control), 8% glucose, or 8% trehalose in three trials. These three trials were at least one week apart and were conducted in a double-blind and randomized crossover manner. Blood was collected for seven biochemical parameters at 12 time points during the experiment. The area under the curve of adrenaline after ingestion of trehalose was significantly lower than that for water and tended to be lower than that for glucose in the later stage of the exercise. Lower secretion of adrenaline after a single dose of 8% trehalose during prolonged exercise reflected the preservation of carbohydrates in the body in the later stage of the exercise. In conclusion, a single ingestion of trehalose helped to maintain prolonged exercise performance.     

Intracerebral transplantation of neural stem cells combined with trehalose ingestion alleviates pathology in a mouse model of Huntington's disease

The present investigation examined the neuroprotective benefits for combined trehalose administration with C17.2 neural stem cell transplantation in a transgenic mouse model of Huntington's disease (HD), R6/2. C17.2 neural stem cells have the potential of differentiating into a neuronal phenotype in vitro and have been shown to be effective in the treatment of a variety of lysosomal lipid storage disorders in the nervous system. In this study, we transplanted these cells into the lateral ventricle of R6/2 transgenic mice in order to examine the efficacy of using these cells for correcting the accumulated polyglutamine storage materials in HD. To improve efficacy, animals were fed with a diet rich in trehalose, which has been shown to be beneficial to retard aggregate formation. The combined treatment strategy not only decreased ubiquitin-positive aggregation in striatum, alleviated polyglutamine aggregation formation, and reduced striatal volume, but also extended life span in the R6/2 animal model. Behavioral evaluation showed that the combination treatment improved motor function. Statistical analysis revealed that the combination treatment was more effective than treatment with trehalose alone on the basis of the above biochemical and behavioral criteria. This study provides a strong a basis for further developing an effective therapeutic strategy for HD.     

两种低温保护剂对皮肤储存后α-辅肌动蛋白表达及活力的影响

目的比较两种不同低温保护剂对皮肤组织α-辅肌动蛋白（α-actinin）低温保存后表达的影响,为寻求皮肤组织低温保护剂的最佳配方提供实验依据。方法新鲜成人皮肤组织分为3组,新鲜对照组和海藻糖-二甲基亚砜（T—D）组、二甲基亚砜-丙二醇（D-P）低温保护剂保存组,-196％液氮冻存7d、14d复温,免疫组织化学染色对各组间皮肤进行比较。同时对各组皮片进行氧耗量测定。结果0．5mol／L海藻糖-二甲基亚砜能够很好保护皮肤组织,α-actinin的表达量与新鲜皮肤组相似。结论海藻糖与二甲基亚砜联合应用对皮肤组织α-actinin的保护作用优于传统组。     

海藻糖对凝血因子保护作用的研究

目的探讨在低温冻结贮存下,海藻糖对血浆凝血因子活性的保护作用。方法用新鲜混合血浆分装7小瓶,分别配制使海藻糖的终浓度为0,0.05,0.10,0.15,0.20,0.25,0.30 m ol/L,再分装在-20℃下保存30,60,120,240,360 d后,测定凝血因子Ⅷ、Ⅸ、Ⅺ的活性,并计算保护率。结果在-20℃保存360 d时,无海藻糖保护组凝血因子Ⅷ、Ⅸ、Ⅺ的活性分别为66.7%,80.8%与79.6%。当海藻糖浓度为0.15 m ol/L时,对凝血因子Ⅷ、Ⅸ、Ⅺ的活性保护作用最为理想,分别为80.1%,92.0%与96.4%。结论在低温冻结贮存下,海藻糖对血浆凝血因子活性有一定的保护作用。     

Increasing intracellular trehalose is sufficient to confer desiccation tolerance to Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Diverse organisms capable of surviving desiccation, termed anhydrobiotes, include species from bacteria, yeast, plants, and invertebrates. However, most organisms are sensitive to desiccation, likely due to an assortment of different stresses such as protein misfolding and aggregation, hyperosmotic stress, membrane fracturing, and changes in cell volume and shape leading to an overcrowded cytoplasm and metabolic arrest. The exact stress(es) that cause lethality in desiccation-sensitive organisms and how the lethal stresses are mitigated in desiccation-tolerant organisms remain poorly understood. The presence of trehalose in anhydrobiotes has been strongly correlated with desiccation tolerance. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, trehalose is essential for survival after long-term desiccation. Here, we establish that the elevation of intracellular trehalose in dividing yeast by its import from the media converts yeast from extreme desiccation sensitivity to a high level of desiccation tolerance. This trehalose-induced tolerance is independent of utilization of trehalose as an energy source, de novo synthesis of other stress effectors, or the metabolic effects of trehalose biosynthetic intermediates, indicating that a chemical property of trehalose is directly responsible for desiccation tolerance. Finally, we demonstrate that elevated intracellular maltose can also make dividing yeast tolerant to short-term desiccation, indicating that other disaccharides have stress effector activity. However, trehalose is much more effective than maltose at conferring tolerance to long-term desiccation. The effectiveness and sufficiency of trehalose as an antagonizer of desiccation-induced damage in yeast emphasizes its potential to confer desiccation tolerance to otherwise sensitive organisms.Water is an essential molecule whose absence can lead to a variety of detrimental and often lethal effects on cells and organisms (1–3). Severe water removal, termed desiccation, has been proposed to lead a variety of detrimental stresses (3). Which of these stresses leads to lethality in desiccation-sensitive organisms is unclear. Organisms capable of surviving desiccation, commonly termed anhydrobiotes, are found among bacteria, fungi, plants, and invertebrates (1, 3). Anhydrobiotes harbor stress effectors that are known or postulated to mitigate the different stresses associated with desiccation (2, 4). These stress effectors include osmolytes, heat shock proteins, redox balancing enzymes, nonreducing disaccharides (trehalose, sucrose), and hydrophilins (short unstructured hydrophilic proteins—also known as LEAs) (1). A reasonable assumption might be that many if not all of these stress effectors are necessary for desiccation tolerance given the multitude of stresses imposed by desiccation. However, this assumption is challenged by the uncertainty in the number and degree of lethal stresses generated by desiccation and the versatility and coordination/cooperation of multiple stress effectors in ameliorating such lethal stresses. Thus, a critical question in the anhydrobiosis field is whether a single stress effector is sufficient to promote desiccation tolerance.One of the most studied desiccation-associated stress effectors is the simple nonreducing disaccharide, trehalose (α,α-1,1-glucoside) (5). It is found in extremely high concentrations in most anhydrobiotes, including in the model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae (6, 7). In this yeast, exponentially dividing cells have very low levels of trehalose and are extremely desiccation sensitive (8). However, in saturated cultures, yeast cells accumulate high levels of a number of stress effectors, including extremely high levels of trehalose (up to 15% of dry cell mass) (6, 7). We recently showed that high levels of trehalose are necessary for yeast cells in saturated cultures to survive weeks to months of desiccation (long term), but not a few days (short term) (9). Trehalose dispensability during short-term desiccation is due in part to overlapping functions with the heat shock factor Hsp104. This overlap led us to discover that trehalose functions as a chemical chaperone capable of preventing the aggregation of both membrane and cytoplasmic proteins (9). Work in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans demonstrated that worms unable to synthesize trehalose display hallmarks of membrane damage, consistent with trehalose playing a role in preserving membrane structure (10). Indeed, trehalose has been found to be lipidated in nematodes and these “maradolipids” are required for efficient desiccation tolerance (11). Due to the different and versatile mechanisms by which trehalose confers desiccation tolerance in anhydrobiotes, we hypothesize that trehalose, in the absence of other stress effectors, will be sufficient in conferring desiccation tolerance.A simple way to address this hypothesis is to increase the intracellular levels of trehalose in desiccation/dehydration-sensitive cells or organisms then assess whether they acquire desiccation tolerance. Two strategies for increasing intracellular trehalose have been previously used. These were engineering high level expression of trehalose biosynthetic enzymes or importing extracellular trehalose via fusion with lipid vesicles (12–16). Both methods only generated small increases in trehalose levels and minor increases in dehydration but not desiccation tolerance. This weak effect could reflect the need for additional stress effectors. Alternatively, trehalose alone could indeed be sufficient for desiccation tolerance but was missed for two reasons. First, high physiological levels of trehalose observed in desiccation-tolerant organisms were not reached so a potential critical threshold level of trehalose was not met. Second, the biosynthetic strategy not only increased trehalose but also trehalose-6-phosphate, a potent regulator of glucose metabolism that has deleterious effects on cell and organism fitness. Thus, it remains untested whether trehalose alone is sufficient for generating desiccation tolerance.The correlative evidence for trehalose being sufficient for desiccation tolerance was provided from our previous study comparing desiccation sensitivity of saturated and exponentially dividing cultures of yeast (8). Cells in a saturated culture rapidly lose desiccation tolerance when they divide upon dilution into fresh media. Shortly, after dilution, the levels of many stress factors, including trehalose, diminish. Trehalose levels drop as a consequence of activation of two intracellular trehalases, NTH1 and NTH2, and the inhibition of the trehalose biosynthetic enzyme Tps1 (6, 7). The diluted cells retained their desiccation tolerance significantly longer when trehalose depletion was slowed by inactivation of the trehalases (9). This result is consistent with the notion that sustaining high trehalose levels, while reducing the levels of other stress effectors, is sufficient to promote desiccation tolerance. Encouraged by this result, we decided to investigate further the potential sufficiency of trehalose for desiccation tolerance, exploiting the ability of the AGT1 sugar transporter to import extracellular trehalose (17). Here, we show that when AGT1 overexpressing cells are grown in the presence of trehalose, they acquire high levels of intracellular trehalose and desiccation tolerance similar to that of saturated cultures. We characterize this novel acquisition of desiccation tolerance and provide important insights into the roles of trehalose concentration and trehalose structure in both short- and long-term desiccation tolerance.     

深冷冻保存对离体牙牙周膜细胞活性影响的研究

目的：探讨应用不同降温方法和不同冷冻保护液的深冷冻保存技术,对人离体牙牙周膜细胞活性的影响。方法：收集新鲜拔除的人第一或第二前磨牙25颗随机分为5组;其中4组使用含海藻糖或不含海藻糖的冷冻保护液,分别应用程序降温或快速降温至－196℃,冷冻保存一周;一组新鲜拔除牙齿为对照组。分别刮取牙根面中1／3的牙周膜组织,消化法收集细胞,台盼蓝染色,高倍镜下计数活细胞数,并计算细胞存活率。结果：不同降温方法不同冷冻保护液深冷冻保存与对照组相比,牙周膜细胞存活率无明显差异。其中,使用含海藻糖的冷冻保护液程序降温的方法牙周膜细胞存活率最高。结论：应用深冷冻技术保存牙齿,牙周膜细胞的活性无明显变化,其中使用含海藻糖的冷冻保护液程序降温的方法对牙周膜细胞的活性影响最小。     

The content of carbohydrates in larval stages of Anisakis simplex (Nematoda, Anisakidae)

Summary The content of carbohydrates in L₃ and L₄ larvae of Anisakis simplex (defined by Rokicki J.) was studied. Glycogen and trehalose were their major reserve sugars. The concentration of saccharides in L₄ larvae was 2–3-times higher than in L₃ larvae. The content of glycogen was 3.68 ± 1.24 mg/g tissue in L₃ larvae and 11.68 ± 1.21 mg/g tissue in L₄ larvae. Trehalose represented 16.17 % of soluble sugars in L₃ larvae and 43.04 % in L₄ larvae. The contents of maltose, higher polymers of glucose (1.5-times) and myoinositol (1.2-times) in L₄ were higher than in L₃ larvae. After starving the L₃ larvae of the parasite for 48 h at 4°C, the contents of trehalose increased 5-fold and that of glycogen by 20 %, while at 37°C the contents of glycogen was ca. 30 % higher and that of trehalose 40 % less than in larvae freshly isolated from the host (p < 0.01). The data obtained during starving the L₃ larvae of A. simplex may be a consequence the role of trehalose as protective compound at stress condition. We suggest that probably in higher temperatures it acts as first a source of energy, and it also might serve to restore the levels of glycogen.     

Thermophysical Properties of Trehalose and Its Concentrated Aqueous Solutions

Purpose. To address the lack of fundamental thermophysical data for trehalose and its aqueous systems by measuring equilibrium and non-equilibrium properties of such systems. Methods/Results. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dynamic mechanical analysis were used to measure glass transition temperatures of trehalose and its solutions. X-ray diffractometry was used to verify the structure of amorphous trehalose. Controlled-stress rheometry was used to measure viscosity of several aqueous trehalose systems at ambient and sub-ambient temperatures. Over this temperature range, the density of these solutions was also measured with a vibrating tube densimeter. The equilibrium phase diagram of aqueous trehalose was determined by measuring the solubility and freezing point depression. Conclusions. Our solubility measurements, which have allowed long times for attainment of chemical equilibrium, are substantially different from those reported earlier that used different techniques. Our measurements of the glass transition temperature of trehalose are higher than reported values. A simple model for the glass transition is presented to describe our experimental observations.     

Synthetic immunoadjuvants: application to non-specific host stimulation and potentiation of vaccine immunogenicity

It is well recognized that immunoadjuvants mainly play two roles; non-specific stimulation of host resistance against infections and cancer, and the potentiation of vaccine immunogenicity. This article reviews the recent results of the development of synthetic immunoadjuvants in our laboratory with special reference to muramyldipeptide (MDP), trehalose dimycolate (TDM), lipid A, chitin and their related compounds. The usefulness of MDP derivative MDP-Lys(L18), which has recently gone on the market as a haematopoietic agent for restoration of leukopenia in cancer patients treated with radiotherapy and chemotherapy, is reviewed. The various approaches to application of synthetic immunoadjuvants to the potentiation of vaccine immunogenicity, including adjuvant formulation, are also discussed.