Phase transitions and mechanisms of cryoprotection of serum-/xeno-free media based on dextran and dimethyl sulfoxide.

The development of serum-/xeno-free media may help avoid the drawbacks of using serum and its components, such as probable contamination, instability of composition, or difficulty in sterilization. The objectives of this research were to investigate the use of combinations of a permeating cryoprotective agent (MeSO) and non-permeating polymers (polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinylpyrrolidone, polyethylene glycol, hydroxyethyl starch, dextran) for cryopreservation of interstitial cells (ICs) of rat testis, and to propose the mechanism of cryoprotection of such compositions. In the course of this study, the best combination was 100 mg/ml dextran (M.

Reversal learning and experimenter-administered chronic intermittent ethanol exposure in male rats.

Rationale: Chronic alcohol exposure is associated with impaired decision making skills, cognitive deficits, and poor performance on tasks requiring behavioral flexibility. Although oral routes of alcohol administration are commonly used to examine effects of alcohol on various behaviors in rodents, only a few investigations have used intragastric exposures to evaluate ethanol's effects on behavioral flexibility in the adult rat.

Objectives: The aim of the current series of experiments was to determine if behavioral flexibility impairments would be demonstrated across a variety of procedural factors, including route of administration [intraperitoneal injection (i.

Glycine N-acyltransferase-like 3 is responsible for long-chain N-acylglycine formation in N18TG2 cells.

Long-chain fatty acid amides are signaling lipids found in mammals and other organisms; however, details of the metabolic pathways for the N-acylglycines and primary fatty acid amides (PFAMs) have remained elusive. Heavy-labeled precursor and subtraction lipidomic experiments in mouse neuroblastoma N18TG2 cells, a model cell line for the study of fatty acid amide metabolism, establish the biosynthetic pathways for the N-acylglycines and the PFAMs. We provide evidence that the N-acylglycines are formed by a long-chain specific glycine-conjugating enzyme, glycine N-acyltransferase-like 3 (GLYATL3).

The development of the cell cryopreservation protocol with controlled rate thawing.

Thawing in the water bath is often considered as a standard procedure. The thermal history of samples thawed in this way is poorly controlled, but cryopreservation and banking of cell-based products require standardization, automation and safety of all the technological stages including thawing. The programmable freezers allow implementation of the controlled cooling as well as the controlled thawing.