Cryoprotectant-Free Freezing of Cells Using Liquid Marbles Filled with Hydrogel

Cryopreservation 0301 basic medicine 570 Cell Survival Sepharose Hydrogels 004 Biomaterials Physical sciences Mice 03 medical and health sciences Engineering Chemical sciences Cell Adhesion NIH 3T3 Cells Animals Cattle
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.8b16236 Publication Date: 2018-11-26T15:56:54Z
ABSTRACT
Cryopreservation without cryoprotectant remains a significant challenge for the re-establishment of cell culture after freeze-thaw. Thus, finding an alternative and a simple cryopreservation method is necessary. Liquid marble (LM)-based digital microfluidics is a promising approach for cryoprotectant-free cryopreservation. However, the use of this platform to efficiently preserve samples with low cell density and well-controlled serum concentrations has not been investigated. We addressed this issue by embedding an agarose-containing fetal bovine serum (FBS) inside the LM. A low density of 500 cells/μL of murine 3T3 cells was selected for evaluating the postcryogenic survivability. The effects on the post-thaw cell viability of the concentration of agarose, the amount of FBS inside the agarose, and the volume of the LM were investigated systematically. This paper also presents an analysis on the changes in shape and crack size of post-thawed agarose. The results revealed that the embedded agarose gel serves as a controlled release mechanism of FBS and significantly improves cell viability. Post-thaw recovery sustains major cellular features, such as viability, cell adhesion, and morphology. The platform technology reported here opens up new possibilities to cryopreserve rare biological samples without the toxicity risk of cryoprotectants.
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
Coming soon ....
REFERENCES (49)
CITATIONS (28)
EXTERNAL LINKS
PlumX Metrics
RECOMMENDATIONS
FAIR ASSESSMENT
Coming soon ....
JUPYTER LAB
Coming soon ....