Role of Cells in Freezing-Induced Cell-Fluid Matrix Interactions Within Engineered Tissues

Abstract

Cryopreservation can provide long-term storage of various biological tissues, which has significant impact on tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. For successful cryopreservation of tissues, tissue functionality must be maintained including physical properties such as mechanical, optical, and transport properties, as well as cellular viability. Such properties are associated with the extracellular matrix (ECM) microstructure. Thus, the preservation of the ECM microstructure may lead to successful cryopreservation [1,2]. Yet, there is still very little known about changes in the ECM microstructure during freezing/thawing.