Megakaryocytes (MKs) are the precursor cells of platelets. Cryopreservation of MKs is critical for facilitating research investigations about the biology of this important cell and may help for scaling-up ex-vivo production of platelets from MKs for clinical transfusion. Determining membrane transport properties of MKs to water and cryoprotectant agents (CPAs) is essential for developing optimal conditions for cryopreserving MKs. To obtain these unknown parameters, membrane transport properties of the human UT-7/TPO megakaryocytic cell line were investigated using a microfluidic perfusion system. UT-7/TPO cells were immobilized in a microfluidic system on poly-D-lysine-coated glass substrate and perfused with various hyper-osmotic salt and CPA solutions at suprazero and subzero temperatures. The kinetics of cell volume changes under various extracellular conditions were monitored by a video camera and the information was processed and analyzed using the Kedem–Katchalsky model to determine the membrane transport properties. The osmotically inactive cell volume (Vb=0.15), the permeability coefficient to water (Lp) at 37°C, 22°C, 12°C, 0°C, −5°C, −10°C, and −20°C, and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO; Ps) at 22, 12, 0, −10, −20, as well as associated activation energies of water and DMSO at different temperature regions were obtained. We found that MKs have relatively higher membrane permeability to water (Lp=2.62 μm/min/atm at 22°C) and DMSO (Ps=1.8×10−3 cm/min at 22°C) than most other common mammalian cell types, such as lymphocytes (Lp=0.46 μm/min/atm at 25°C). This information could suggest a higher optimal cooling rate for MKs cryopreservation. The discontinuity effect was also found on activation energy at 0°C–12°C in the Arrhenius plots of membrane permeability by evaluating the slope of linear regression at each temperature region. This phenomenon may imply the occurrence of cell membrane lipid phase transition.

An optimal cooling rate is one of the critical factors influencing the survival of cells during cryopreservation. In this paper we describe a novel device, named the box-in-box, which was developed for optimal cryopreservation of human hematopoietic stem cells (HSC). This work presents the design of the device, a mathematical formulation describing the expected temperature histories of samples during the freezing process, along with actual experimental results of thermal profile tests. In experiments, when the box-in-box device was transferred from room temperature to a −80 °C freezer, a cooling rate of −1~−3.5 °C/min, which has been widely used for the cryopreservation of HSC, was achieved. In order to further evaluate this device, HSC cryopreservation was compared between the box-in-box device and a commercially available controlled rate freezer (CryoMed). The experimental data, including total cell population and CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cell recovery rates, viability, and cell culture colony assays, showed that box-in-box worked as well as CryoMed instrument. There was no significant difference in either survival rate or the culture/colony outcome between the two devices. In conclusion, the box-in-box device can work as a cheap, durable, reliable and maintenance-free instrument for the cryopreservation of HSC. This concept of a box-in-box may also be adapted to other cooling rates to support cryopreservation in a wide variety of tissues and cells.

Hollow fiber modules are commonly used to conveniently and efficiently remove cryoprotective agents (CPAs) from cryopreserved cell suspensions. In this paper, a steady-state model coupling mass transfers across cell and hollow fiber membranes is theoretically developed to evaluate the removal of CPAs from cryopreserved blood using hollow fiber modules. This steady-state model complements the unsteady-state model which was presented in our previous study. As the steady-state model, unlike the unsteady-state model, can be used to evaluate the effect of ultrafiltration flow rates on the clearance of CPAs. The steady-state model is validated by experimental results and then is compared with the unsteady-state model. Using the steady-state model, the effects of ultrafiltration flow rates, NaCl concentrations in dialysate, blood flow rates and dialysate flow rates on CPA concentration variation and cell volume response are investigated in detail. According to the simulative results, the osmotic damage of red blood cells (RBCs) can easily be reduced by increasing ultrafiltration flow rates, increasing NaCl concentrations in dialysate, increasing blood flow rates or decreasing dialysate flow rates.

Light microscopy method offers unique abilities for the determination of membrane transport properties of either single or multiple cells. A stream imaging system composed of a microfluidic device, a charge-coupled device camera, and a microscope has been developed to study the osmotic behavior of multiple cells in response toward their extracellular environment. Cells of interest were first mixed with the desired extracellular medium and streamed into a microchannel. The microchannel confines the movement of the cells in a monolayer and allows cells to move along the flow direction only. The cells then pass through a sensing zone where the images of cells were capable of being captured under a microscope. Using mouse dendritic cells (mDCs) as a model system, the membrane transport properties were investigated. The kinetics volume changes of mDCs under various extracellular conditions at room temperature (22°C) were analyzed using a biophysical model to determine water and cryoprotectant transport properties of the cell membrane. This prototype system directly allows us to observe, trace, capture, and store the sample information in terms of number, concentration, dynamic size, or shape for further analyses and documentations. We believe that the system has the potential of being used as a stand-alone equipment, or integrated into a lab-on-a-chip system, or embedded into commercialized instruments.

Composite tissue allotransplantation holds great promise for upper extremity reconstruction but is limited by donor part availability. Cryopreservation may increase the availability of donor parts and even reduce antigenicity. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the viability of cryopreserved composite tissues and to demonstrate the feasibility of microvascular isotransplantation of cryopreserved composite flaps. Twenty epigastric flaps were harvested from Lewis rats. Ten flaps were analyzed fresh. Ten flaps were perfused with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)/trehelose cryoprotectant agent (CPA), frozen by controlled cooling to −140°C, and stored for 2 weeks. Flaps were evaluated by factor VIII endothelial staining and MTT tetrazolium salt assay. For the in vivo phase, 30 flaps were harvested. Ten were transplanted fresh to isogenetic recipient animals, ten were perfused with CPA and transplanted, and ten were cryopreserved for 2 weeks, thawed, and transplanted. All cryopreserved samples displayed intact vascular endothelia on factor VIII staining. On MTT analysis, the epithelial viability index for the cryopreserved samples was not significantly different from fresh controls (p = 0.12). All freshly transplanted flaps (10/10) were viable at 60 days. Nine of ten flaps in the perfused/transplanted group were viable at 60 days. Survival of cryopreserved/transplanted flaps ranged from 5 to 60 days. The skin and vascular endothelial components of composite tissue flaps appear to retain their viability after cryopreservation. The in vivo studies demonstrate that the long-term survival of cryopreserved composite tissue transplants is feasible and support an indirect injury, rather than direct injury from freezing or cryoprotectant agents, as the mechanism of flap loss.