(696f) Efficient Preservation of Mammalian Cells at Hypothermic Temperature Using Biocompatible  Microparticles

The preservation of living cells at refrigerated temperature (hypothermic) is highly feasible and flexible, and is of great importance for the wide use of cell-based applications, such as cell diagnostics and cell therapy. The University of Wisconsin (UW) cold storage solution is one of the current state-of-the-art protectants for hypothermic cell preservation. However, even using UW solution, current effective preservation time at refrigerated conditions is still no more than 1 or 2 days, which restraints larger geographic cell-sharing regions. Herein, we presented a facile technology based on the assembly of extracellular-matrix-mimetic microparticles, which can significantly enhance cell survival in hypothermic preservation at refrigerated conditions for at least 4 days. Moreover, compared with UW solution-based preservation, this strategy significantly inhibited cell nucleus deformation, indicating its ability of inhibiting cell apoptosis. While after preservation, both the morphology and proliferation of recovered cells were similar with the normal cells. In addition, microparticle-based preservation could allow the free diffusion of nutrients and metabolic wastes, and could easily and physically retrieve the cells by a permanent magnet. This new technology could significantly extend the preservation duration of cells and hold huge promise to improve the outcome of cell therapy and diagnostic accuracy, which will benefit patients in various cell-based applications.