Name: measuring the densities of aqueous glasses at cryogenic temperatures
Uploaded: 2017-06-28T14:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Measuring the Densities of Aqueous Glasses at Cryogenic Temperatures at JoVE.com

This work was supported by the NSF under award MCB-1330685. DWM acknowledges partial support from Cornell University&#39;s Molecular Biophysics Training Grant (NIH T32GM0082567).

CAUTION: Please consult all relevant material safety data sheets (MSDS) before use. Please use all appropriate safety practices when using compressed gases, including appropriate calibrated gas handling regulators and valves, and approved gas tubing. Contact with liquid cryogens can cause&#160; severe frostbite and necrosis. Use appropriate personal protective equipment (face shield, gloves, lab coat, full length pants, closed-toe shoes), all of which must be impermeable to liquid nitrogen. Remain standing and ensure an ...

<ol>
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E. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Heat+transfer+from+protein+crystals:+implications+for+flash-cooling+and+X-ray+beam+heating.">Heat transfer from protein crystals: implications for flash-cooling and X-ray beam heating.</a> Acta Cryst Sect D. 59 (4), 697-708 (2003).</li><li>Loerting, T., Bauer, M., Kohl, I., Watschinger, K., Winkel, K., Mayer, E. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Cryoflotation:+Densities+of+amorphous+and+crystalline+ices.">Cryoflotation: Densities of amorphous and crystalline ices.</a> J Phys Chem B. 115 (48), 14167-14175 (2011).</li><li>Shen, C., Julius, E. F., Tyree, T. J., Moreau, D. W., Thorne, R. E. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Thermal+contraction+of+aqueous+glycerol+and+ethylene+glycol+solutions+for+optimized+protein-crystal+cryoprotection+Thermal+contraction+of+aqueous+glycerol+and+ethylene+glycol+solutions+for+optimized+protein-crystal+cryoprotection.">Thermal contraction of aqueous glycerol and ethylene glycol solutions for optimized protein-crystal cryoprotection Thermal contraction of aqueous glycerol and ethylene glycol solutions for optimized protein-crystal cryoprotection.</a> Acta Cryst Sect D. 72 (6), 742-752 (2016).</li><li>Warkentin, M., Berejnov, V., Husseini, N. S., Thorne, R. 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A., Schall, C. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Sample+size:+An+important+parameter+in+flash-cooling+macromolecular+crystallization+solutions.">Sample size: An important parameter in flash-cooling macromolecular crystallization solutions.</a> J. Appl. Cryst. 38 (3), 412-419 (2005).</li><li>Bosart, L. W., Snoddy, A. O. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Specific+gravity+of+glycerol.">Specific gravity of glycerol.</a> Ind Eng Chem. 20 (12), 1377-1379 (1928).</li><li>Rodrigues, M., Francesconi, A. Z. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Experimental+study+of+the+excess+molar+volumes+of+binary+and+ternary+mixtures+containing+water+++(1,2-ethanediol,+or+1,2-propanediol,+or+1,3-propanediol,+or+1,2-butanediol)+++(1-n-butyl-3-methylimidazolium+bromide)+at+298.15+K+and+atmospheric+pressure.">Experimental study of the excess molar volumes of binary and ternary mixtures containing water + (1,2-ethanediol, or 1,2-propanediol, or 1,3-propanediol, or 1,2-butanediol) + (1-n-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide) at 298.15 K and atmospheric pressure.</a> J Solution Chem. 40 (11), 1863-1873 (2011).</li><li>Berejnov, V., Husseini, N. S., Alsaied, O. A., Thorne, R. 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The present apparatus and methods, developed primarily by undergraduates with limited access to instrument-building tools and machinery, nevertheless delivers highly accurate density measurements for individual liquid drops as small as 50 pL. In the concentration range near and above 50% w/w, where small cooling rates are sufficient to obtain vitrified samples, the densities agree with those obtained in previous measurements on bulk samples. Extrapolations of the present densities to 0% concentration &#8211; pure water &...

The physical properties of water and aqueous mixtures in their various phases are of fundamental interest, and are important to in vivo and in vitro understanding of biological systems. In contemporary cryobiology and biological cryopreservation, the vitreous or amorphous phases of aqueous cryoprotectant mixtures are of particular interest1,2. Nucleation and growth of ice crystals can disrupt cells and tissues, and promote protein denaturation and aggregation, so cryopreservation protocols that vitrify the solvent have become increasingly popular. In biomolecular crystallography, the crystallization of solvent in the channels between biomolecules disrupts crystal lattices and degrades diffraction properties. Vitrification is achieved through a combination of rapid cooling, dehydration, and addition of cryoprotective solutes such as glycerol, ethylene glycol, polyethylene glycols (PEGs), alcohols, and salts.
Vitrification limits ice crystallization and growth, but does not eliminate all cooling-related sample damage. For example, crystal mosaicity (a measure of the distribution of crystal plane orientations) routinely increases by a factor of 10 to 100 when protein crystals are cooled into a vitrified state3, and post-thaw survival rates of vitrified sperm cells and oocytes vary widely.
One damage mechanism is differential contraction of solvent and surrounding material during cooling3,4,5. The equilibrium solvent and solute concentrations within a crystal, cell or tissue are temperature dependent, and the solvent plus the solute and surrounding material may contract by different amounts. Rapid cooling may prevent solvent and solute redistribution prior to vitrification, and differential contraction may lead to large, inhomogeneous, nonequilibrium stresses that cause sample damage.
Rational approaches to reducing cooling-induced damage could thus benefit from the knowledge of temperature-dependent densities of liquid and vitrified aqueous mixtures. At solute concentrations above 50% weight of solute to weight of solution (w/w), most aqueous cryoprotectant mixtures can be vitrified with modest cooling rates of 10 K/s or less, allowing production of and density measurements using large vitreous samples6. Density can then be determined using Archimedes&#39; principle, by measuring the apparent weight of the sample when suspended in a liquid cryogen like nitrogen. However, as solute concentration decreases, cooling rates required for vitrification increase rapidly: Cooling rates for aqueous glycerol mixtures increase from &#60;10 K/s at 50% weight of solute in g to volume of solution in mL (w/v) to &#62;1,000 K/s at 25% w/v7. Heat transfer becomes boundary-layer limited, so that achieving larger cooling rates requires smaller and smaller samples8.
Measurements of the density of pure vitreous water and ice have been achieved by depositing micrometer-diameter (femtoliter volume) drops in a vacuum onto a cryogenically-cooled surface so as to build up a macroscopic (gram mass) sample. The density of this sample was determined by cryoflotation in a liquid nitrogen-argon mixture, in which the density of the cryogenic liquid was adjusted until the sample became neutrally buoyant9. However, generating large samples from a large number of small drops in a way that minimizes void volumes &#8211; an important source of error in previous vitreous phase density measurements &#8211; is non-trivial. For aqueous mixtures, differential evaporation of solution components during aerosolization and deposition in a vacuum can lead to substantial uncertainties in deposited concentrations.
We have developed a method, based on cryoflotation, that allows accurate density determination of aqueous mixtures using individual drops as small as 50 pL10. These drops can be rapidly cooled while retaining their original concentrations, and their cryogenic temperature state (vitrified or crystalline) can be assessed using a simple visual assay that correlates with X-ray diffraction measurements. This method is broadly applicable to aqueous and non-aqueous mixtures, and can be extended to a variety of biological samples including cells (e.g., stem and egg), tissue samples, and protein crystals having low-temperature densities between 0.8 and 1.4 g/mL.

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			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">centrifuge tube</td>
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			<td style="width:119px;">6029236</td>
			<td style="width:167px;">15 mL conical centrifuge tube</td>
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			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">glycerol, &#62;99.5%</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Sigma&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">G9012-100 mL</td>
			<td></td>
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			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">ethylene glycol, &#62;99.8%</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Sigma</td>
			<td>324558-100 mL</td>
			<td></td>
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			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">analytical microbalance</td>
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</table>

measuring the densities of aqueous glasses at cryogenic temperatures

We demonstrate a method for determining the vitreous phase cryogenic temperature densities of aqueous mixtures, and other samples that require rapid cooling, to prepare the desired cryogenic temperature phase. Microliter to picoliter size drops are cooled by projection into a liquid nitrogen-argon (N2-Ar) mixture. The cryogenic temperature phase of the drop is evaluated using a visual assay that correlates with X-ray diffraction measurements. The density of the liquid N2-Ar mixture is adjusted by adding N2 or Ar until the drop becomes neutrally buoyant. The density of this mixture and thus of the drop is determined using a test mass and Archimedes principle. With appropriate care in drop preparation, management of gas above the liquid cryogen mixture to minimize icing, and regular mixing of the cryogenic mixture to prevent density stratification and phase separation, densities accurate to &#60;0.5% of drops as small as 50 pL can readily be determined. Measurements on aqueous cryoprotectant mixtures provide insight into cryoprotectant action, and provide quantitative data to facilitate thermal contraction matching in biological cryopreservation.

Density measurements at T = 77 K for vitrified drops of aqueous glycerol and ethylene glycol versus cryoprotectant concentration are shown in Figure 1A and Figure 1B respectively, and the corresponding change in specific volume between T = 298 K and 77 K, calculated using previously determined T = 298 K densities, is shown in Figure 2. At h...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Measuring the Densities of Aqueous Glasses at Cryogenic Temperatures at JoVE.com

Measuring the Densities of Aqueous Glasses at Cryogenic Temperatures

A protocol for determining the vitreous phase densities of micro- to pico-liter size drops of aqueous mixtures at cryogenic temperatures is described.

We demonstrate a method for determining the vitreous phase cryogenic temperature densities of aqueous mixtures, and other samples that require rapid ...

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