Winter is coming: the future of cryopreservation

Bojić, Sanja; Murray, Alex; Bentley, Barry L; Spindler, Ralf; Pawlik, P.; Cordeiro, José L.; Bauer, R.; Magalhães, João Pedro de

doi:10.1186/s12915-021-00976-8

Cited by 91 publications

(87 citation statements)

References 221 publications

(273 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…ethylene glycol, glycerol, DMSO, or nonpermeable cryoprotectants, e.g. trehalose, sucrose, and then subjected to ultra-rapid cooling, which prevents ice crystal formation and converts the cell content into a so-called glassy state (Bojic et al 2021;Panis et al 2020;Sharma et al 2017). For many microorganisms, freeze drying and liquid drying are often also successfully applied (Smith and Ryan 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To overcome the risk of bacterial or viral cross contaminations, specific guidelines or risk assessments have not been developed yet. Although Schafer et al (1976) already pointed out that LN storage tanks might be a source of laboratory infections, most previous reviews on biobanking cover only general information about biobanks (Coppola et al 2019), laboratory operations (Cicek and Olson 2020), cryopreservation procedures (Bojic et al 2021), or specific topics such as global health (Mendy et al 2018) and reproduction medicine (Tao et al 2020). So far, the potential of contamination in cryobanking was only discussed by Larman et al (2014), Bielanski and Vajta (2009), Joaquim et al (2017), andVajta et al (2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Microbial occurrence in liquid nitrogen storage tanks: a challenge for cryobanking?

Bajerski

Nagel

Overmann

2021

Appl Microbiol Biotechnol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Modern biobanks maintain valuable living materials for medical diagnostics, reproduction medicine, and conservation purposes. To guarantee high quality during long-term storage and to avoid metabolic activities, cryostorage is often conducted in the N2 vapour phase or in liquid nitrogen (LN) at temperatures below − 150 °C. One potential risk of cryostorage is microbial cross contamination in the LN storage tanks. The current review summarises data on the occurrence of microorganisms that may compromise the safety and quality of biological materials during long-term storage. We assess the potential for the microbial contamination of LN in storage tanks holding different biological materials based on the detection by culture-based and molecular approaches. The samples themselves, the LN, the human microbiome, and the surrounding environment are possible routes of contamination and can cause cross contaminations via the LN phase. In general, the results showed that LN is typically not the source of major contaminations and only a few studies provided evidence for a risk of microbial cross contamination. So far, culture-based and culture-independent techniques detected only low amounts of microbial cells, indicating that cross contamination may occur at a very low frequency. To further minimise the potential risk of microbial cross contaminations, we recommend reducing the formation of ice crystals in cryotanks that can entrap environmental microorganisms and using sealed or second sample packing. A short survey demonstrated the awareness for microbial contaminations of storage containers among different culture collections. Although most participants consider the risk of cross contaminations in LN storage tanks as low, they prevent potential contaminations by using sealed devices and − 150 °C freezers. It is concluded that the overall risk for cross contaminations in biobanks is relatively low when following standard operating procedures (SOPs). We evaluated the potential sources in detail and summarised our results in a risk assessment spreadsheet which can be used for the quality management of biobanks. Key points • Identification of potential contaminants and their sources in LN storage tanks. • Recommendations to reduce this risk of LN storage tank contamination. • Development of a risk assessment spreadsheet to support quality management.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbial occurrence in liquid nitrogen storage tanks: a challenge for cryobanking?

Bajerski

Nagel

Overmann

2021

Appl Microbiol Biotechnol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For this reason, cryoprotectant-free vitrification methods have been attempted in human spermatozoa [ 3 ] and equine oocytes [ 4 ] without success, and so far, it has never been performed in porcine. Moreover, results from previous studies demonstrated the need for CPAs [ 3 – 6 ], and recently new nontoxic CPAs has been proposed [ 7 ]. For oocyte cryopreservation, ethylene glycol (EG) and dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) have been the most widely used permeable CPAs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

DNA damage in cumulus cells generated after the vitrification of in vitro matured porcine oocytes and its impact on fertilization and embryo development

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background The evaluation of the DNA damage generated in cumulus cells after mature cumulus-oocyte complexes vitrification can be considered as an indicator of oocyte quality since these cells play important roles in oocyte developmental competence. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine if matured cumulus-oocyte complexes exposure to cryoprotectants (CPAs) or vitrification affects oocytes and cumulus cells viability, but also if DNA damage is generated in cumulus cells, affecting fertilization and embryo development. Results The DNA damage in cumulus cells was measured using the alkaline comet assay and expressed as Comet Tail Length (CTL) and Olive Tail Moment (OTM). Results demonstrate that oocyte exposure to CPAs or vitrification reduced oocyte (75.5 ± 3.69%, Toxicity; 66.7 ± 4.57%, Vitrification) and cumulus cells viability (32.7 ± 5.85%, Toxicity; 7.7 ± 2.21%, Vitrification) compared to control (95.5 ± 4.04%, oocytes; 89 ± 4.24%, cumulus cells). Also, significantly higher DNA damage expressed as OTM was generated in the cumulus cells after exposure to CPAs and vitrification (39 ± 17.41, 33.6 ± 16.69, respectively) compared to control (7.4 ± 4.22). In addition, fertilization and embryo development rates also decreased after exposure to CPAs (35.3 ± 16.65%, 22.6 ± 3.05%, respectively) and vitrification (32.3 ± 9.29%, 20 ± 1%, respectively). It was also found that fertilization and embryo development rates in granulose-intact oocytes were significantly higher compared to denuded oocytes in the control groups. However, a decline in embryo development to the blastocyst stage was observed after CPAs exposure (1.66 ± 0.57%) or vitrification (2 ± 1%) compared to control (22.3 ± 2.51%). This could be attributed to the reduction in both cell types viability, and the generation of DNA damage in the cumulus cells. Conclusion This study demonstrates that oocyte exposure to CPAs or vitrification reduced viability in oocytes and cumulus cells, and generated DNA damage in the cumulus cells, affecting fertilization and embryo development rates. These findings will allow to understand some of the mechanisms of oocyte damage after vitrification that compromise their developmental capacity, as well as the search for new vitrification strategies to increase fertilization and embryo development rates by preserving the integrity of the cumulus cells.

show abstract

“…Since the last century, cryopreservation has been widely used to preserve cells and tissue, and by reducing their decay under extremely cold conditions, keep them alive while maintaining their natural properties. With the discovery of cryoprotective agents, this technique has successfully been used to preserve single cells, but its success rate tends to decrease if used for more complex tissues (Bojic et al, 2021;Karlsson and Toner, 1996).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Live Imaging of Primary Neurons in Long-Term Cryopreserved Human Nerve Tissue

Fortea

Jain

Demedts³

et al. 2021

eNeuro

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Tissue cryopreservation provides a convenient solution for tackling one of the major problems in neuroscience research, namely, the scarce availability of human nerve tissues, especially if needed alive. While brain tissue can be used only postmortem, live nerve tissue can reasonably well be harvested from the periphery. A valuable source of primary neurons is the intestine, which compared with brain has the advantage to be safely accessible via endoscopy. The nerve tissue innervating the intestine (the enteric nervous system; ENS) can be sampled with regular endoscopic biopsy forceps and remains viable for multiple physiological and immunohistochemical tests, as previously demonstrated. Here, we present a method to preserve, over longer periods of time, human primary neurons contained in these biopsies. The use of a cryoprotective agent and the application of controlled cooling revealed to be crucial to properly store the nerve tissue and to enable functional measurements after thawing. These primary neurons were evaluated for functionality (live imaging) and morphology (histology) up to one year after cryopreservation. Calcium (Ca2+) imaging indicated that human primary neurons remained viable and responded to selective stimulations (serotonergic and nicotinic agonists) after cryopreservation. Additionally, immunohistochemistry performed with specific neuronal markers showed that nerve structure and neuronal morphology were retained, with no signs of cellular damage. In this study, we demonstrate that the human ENS is a realistic source of primary neurons, which can be successfully preserved over long times and as such can be exploited both for gastrointestinal-specific as well as for general neuroscience research.

show abstract

Winter is coming: the future of cryopreservation

Cited by 91 publications

References 221 publications

Microbial occurrence in liquid nitrogen storage tanks: a challenge for cryobanking?

Microbial occurrence in liquid nitrogen storage tanks: a challenge for cryobanking?

DNA damage in cumulus cells generated after the vitrification of in vitro matured porcine oocytes and its impact on fertilization and embryo development

Live Imaging of Primary Neurons in Long-Term Cryopreserved Human Nerve Tissue

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About