Membrane permeability of the human pluripotent stem cells to Me₂SO, glycerol and 1,2-propanediol

Computer-aided exploration of multiobjective optimal temperature profiles in slow freezing for human induced pluripotent stem cells

Human induced pluripotent stem (hiPS) cells have demonstrated promising potential in regenerative medical therapeutics. After successful clinical trials, the demand for hiPS cells has steadily increased. Therefore, the optimization of hiPS cell freezing processes for storage and transportation is essential. Here, we presented a computer-aided exploration of multiobjective optimal temperature profiles in slow freezing for hiPS cells. This study was based on a model that calculates cell survival rates after thawing, and the model was extended to evaluate cell potentials until 24 h after seeding. To estimate parameter values for this extension, freezing experiments were performed using constant cooling rates. Using quality and productivity indicators, we evaluated 16,206 temperature profiles using our model, and a promising profile was obtained. Finally, an experimental investigation of the profile was undertaken, and the contribution of the temperature profile to both quality and productivity was confirmed.

Crystallisation Degree Analysis during Cryopreservation of Biological Tissue Applying Interval Arithmetic

This paper presents the numerical modelling of heat transfer and changes proceeding in the homogeneous sample, caused by the crystallisation phenomenon during cryopreservation by vitrification. Heat transfer was simulated in a microfluidic system in which the working fluid flowed in micro-channels. The analysed process included single-phase flow during warming, and two-phase flow during cooling. In the model under consideration, interval parameters were assumed. The base of the mathematical model is given by the Fourier equation, with a heat source including the degree of ice crystallisation. The formulated problem has been solved using the interval version of the finite difference method, with the rules of the directed interval arithmetic. The fourth order Runge-Kutta algorithm has been applied to determine the degree of crystallisation. In the final part of this paper, examples of numerical computations are presented.

Self-Healing, Self-Adhesive and Stable Organohydrogel-Based Stretchable Oxygen Sensor with High Performance at Room Temperature

With the advent of the 5G era and the rise of the Internet of Things, various sensors have received unprecedented attention, especially wearable and stretchable sensors in the healthcare field. Here, a stretchable, self-healable, self-adhesive, and room-temperature oxygen sensor with excellent repeatability, a full concentration detection range (0-100%), low theoretical limit of detection (5.7 ppm), high sensitivity (0.2%/ppm), good linearity, excellent temperature, and humidity tolerances is fabricated by using polyacrylamide-chitosan (PAM-CS) double network (DN) organohydrogel as a novel transducing material. The PAM-CS DN organohydrogel is transformed from the PAM-CS composite hydrogel using a facile soaking and solvent replacement strategy. Compared with the pristine hydrogel, the DN organohydrogel displays greatly enhanced mechanical strength, moisture retention, freezing resistance, and sensitivity to oxygen. Notably, applying the tensile strain improves both the sensitivity and response speed of the organohydrogel-based oxygen sensor. Furthermore, the response to the same concentration of oxygen before and after self-healing is basically the same. Importantly, we propose an electrochemical reaction mechanism to explain the positive current shift of the oxygen sensor and corroborate this sensing mechanism through rationally designed experiments. The organohydrogel oxygen sensor is used to monitor human respiration in real-time, verifying the feasibility of its practical application. This work provides ideas for fabricating more stretchable, self-healable, self-adhesive, and high-performance gas sensors using ion-conducting organohydrogels.

Permeability and Osmotic Parameters of Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells and H9C2 Cells under Non-ideal Thermodynamic Assumptions: A Novel Iterative Fitting Method

Cryopreservation is the use of very low subzero temperatures to preserve cells and tissues for later use. This is achieved by controlled cooling in the presence of cryoprotectants that moderate the amount of ice formed. Mathematical modeling of the cryopreservation process is a useful tool to investigate the different variables that affect the results of this process. The changing cell volume during cryopreservation can be modeled using cell membrane water and cryoprotectant permeabilities and the osmotically inactive fraction of the intracellular contents. These three cell-specific parameters have been found previously for different cell types under ideal and dilute assumptions, but biological solutions at subzero temperatures are far from ideal and dilute, especially when cryoprotectants are included. In this work, the osmotic virial equation is used to model the changing cell volume under non-ideal assumptions, and the intracellular environment is described using the grouped solute, which consists of all impermeant intracellular solutes grouped together, leading to two additional cell-specific parameters, the second and third osmotic virial coefficients of the grouped solute. Herein, we present a novel fitting method to efficiently determine these five cell-specific parameters by fitting kinetic cell volume data under non-ideal assumptions and report the results of applying this method to obtain the parameters for two cell types: human umbilical vein endothelial cells and H9C2 rat myoblasts.

Numerical Study of Heat and Mass Transfer during Cryopreservation Process with Application of Directed Interval Arithmetic

In the present paper, numerical modelling of heat and mass transfer proceeding in a two-dimensional axially symmetrical articular cartilage sample subjected to a cryopreservation process is presented. In the model under consideration, interval parameters were assumed. The heat transfer process is described using the Fourier interval equation, while the cryoprotectant transport (DMSO) across the cell membrane is analyzed using a two-parameter model taking into account the simulation of the water volume in the chondrocytes and the change in DMSO concentration over time. The liquidus tracking (LT) protocol introduced by Pegg et al. was used to model the cryopreservation process. This procedure divides the heating and cooling phases into eight and seven steps, respectively, allowing precise regulation of temperature and cryoprotectant (CPA) concentration of bathing solutions. This protocol protects chondrocytes from ice crystal, osmotic stress, and electrolyte damage. The obtained interval concentrations of cryoprotectant in chondrocytes were compared with previous simulations obtained using the deterministic model and they are mostly in agreement with the simulation data.

Numerical Modeling of Heat and Mass Transfer during Cryopreservation Using Interval Analysis

In the paper, the numerical analysis of heat and mass transfer proceeding in an axially symmetrical articular cartilage sample subjected to the cryopreservation process is presented. In particular, a two-dimensional (axially symmetrical) model with imprecisely defined parameters is considered. The base of the heat transfer model is given by the interval Fourier equation and supplemented by initial boundary conditions. The phenomenon of cryoprotectant transport (Me2SO) through the extracellular matrix is described by the interval mass transfer equation. The liquidus-tracking (LT) method is used to control the temperature, which avoids the formation of ice regardless of the cooling and warming rates. In the LT process, the temperature decreases/increases gradually during addition/removal of the cryoprotectant, and the articular cartilage remains on or above the liquidus line so that no ice forms, independent of the cooling/warming rate. The discussed problem is solved using the interval finite difference method with the rules of directed interval arithmetic. Examples of numerical computations are presented in the final part of the paper. The obtained results of the numerical simulation are compared with the experimental results, realized for deterministically defined parameters.

Effects of DMSO on the Pluripotency of Cultured Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells (mESCs)

DMSO is a commonly used solvent in biological studies, as it is an amphipathic molecule soluble in both aqueous and organic media. For that reason, it is the vehicle of choice for several water-insoluble substances used in research. At the molecular and cellular level, DMSO is a hydrogen-bound disrupter, an intercellular electrical uncoupler, and a cryoprotectant, among other properties. Importantly, DMSO often has overlooked side effects. In stem cell research, the literature is scarce, but there are reports on the effect of DMSO in human embryoid body differentiation and on human pluripotent stem cell priming towards differentiation, via modulation of cell cycle. However, in mouse embryonic stem cell (mESC) culture, there is almost no available information. Taking into consideration the almost ubiquitous use of DMSO in experiments involving mESCs, we aimed to understand the effect of very low doses of DMSO (0.0001%-0.2%), usually used to introduce pharmacological inhibitors/modulators, in mESCs cultured in two different media (2i and FBS-based media). Our results show that in the E14Tg2a mESC line used in this study, even the smallest concentration of DMSO had minor effects on the total number of cells in serum-cultured mESCs. However, these effects could not be explained by alterations in cell cycle or apoptosis. Furthermore, DMSO did not affect pluripotency or differentiation potential. All things considered, and although control experiments should be carried out in each cell line that is used, it is reasonable to conclude that DMSO at the concentrations used here has a minimal effect on this particular mESC line.

Effect of glycerol on photobleaching of cytochrome Raman lines in frozen yeast cells

We applied a Raman spectroscopy approach to investigate the effect of a cryoprotectant on the redox state of cytochromes on freezing yeast cells. The redox activity of cytochromes was studied using time-resolved photobleaching of the resonance Raman lines. It is found that ice formation causes a drastic change in the redox state of cytochromes in cells frozen without cryoprotectant, whereas in the presence of glycerol the effects of ice formation are more gradual. The photobleaching rate of cells frozen in glycerol solution shows a gradual slowing with temperature decrease and an abrupt slowdown below - 48 °C. This abrupt decrease was interpreted as originating from changes in protein conformational dynamics. Our findings provide important new insights into the transition from active to inactive cytochrome states as cells undergo freezing in the presence and absence of cryoprotectant.

Osmotic behaviour of human mesenchymal stem cells: Implications for cryopreservation

Aimed at providing a contribution to the optimization of cryopreservation processes, the present work focuses on the osmotic behavior of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). Once isolated from the umbilical cord blood (UCB) of three different donors, hMSCs were characterized in terms of size distribution and their osmotic properties suitably evaluated through the exposure to hypertonic and isotonic aqueous solutions at three different temperatures. More specifically, inactive cell volume and cell permeability to water and di-methyl sulfoxide (DMSO) were measured, being cell size determined using impedance measurements under both equilibrium and dynamic conditions. Experimental findings indicate that positive cell volume excursions are limited by the apparent increase of inactive volume, which occurs during both the shrink-swell process following DMSO addition and the subsequent restoration of isotonic conditions in the presence of hypertonic solutions of impermeant or permeant solutes. Based on this evidence, hMSCs must be regarded as imperfect osmometers, and their osmotic behavior described within a scenario no longer compatible with the simple two-parameter model usually utilized in the literature. In this respect, the activation of mechano-sensitive ion-channels seemingly represents a reasonable hypothesis for rationalizing the observed osmotic behavior of hMSCs from UCB.

Cryopreservation: Vitrification and Controlled Rate Cooling

Cryopreservation is the application of low temperatures to preserve the structural and functional integrity of cells and tissues. Conventional cooling protocols allow ice to form and solute concentrations to rise during the cryopreservation process. The damage caused by the rise in solute concentration can be mitigated by the use of compounds known as cryoprotectants. Such compounds protect cells from the consequences of slow cooling injury, allowing them to be cooled at cooling rates which avoid the lethal effects of intracellular ice. An alternative to conventional cooling is vitrification. Vitrification methods incorporate cryoprotectants at sufficiently high concentrations to prevent ice crystallization so that the system forms an amorphous glass thus avoiding the damaging effects caused by conventional slow cooling. However, vitrification too can impose damaging consequences on cells as the cryoprotectant concentrations required to vitrify cells at lower cooling rates are potentially, and often, harmful. While these concentrations can be lowered to nontoxic levels, if the cells are ultra-rapidly cooled, the resulting metastable system can lead to damage through devitrification and growth of ice during subsequent storage and rewarming if not appropriately handled.The commercial and clinical application of stem cells requires robust and reproducible cryopreservation protocols and appropriate long-term, low-temperature storage conditions to provide reliable master and working cell banks. Though current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) compliant methods for the derivation and banking of clinical grade pluripotent stem cells exist and stem cell lines suitable for clinical applications are available, current cryopreservation protocols, whether for vitrification or conventional slow freezing, remain suboptimal. Apart from the resultant loss of valuable product that suboptimal cryopreservation engenders, there is a danger that such processes will impose a selective pressure on the cells selecting out a nonrepresentative, freeze-resistant subpopulation. Optimizing this process requires knowledge of the fundamental processes that occur during the freezing of cellular systems, the mechanisms of damage and methods for avoiding them. This chapter draws together the knowledge of cryopreservation gained in other systems with the current state-of-the-art for embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cell preservation in an attempt to provide the background for future attempts to optimize cryopreservation protocols.

Determination of the membrane hydraulic permeability of MSCs

A successful cryopreservation is based on knowledge of the optimal cooling rate. So far, this is often determined by way of complex parameter studies. Alternatively, the identification of cell specific characteristics, such as osmotic behaviour, membrane hydraulic permeability and activation energy could be used to calculate the optimal cooling rate. These parameters should be determined for supra-zero and sub-zero temperatures. In this study cryomicroscopy was used. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) from bone marrow were analysed. The determined membrane hydraulic permeability for sub-zero temperatures is significantly lower than that for supra-zero temperatures. On the contrary the activation energy is significantly higher in the presence of ice. The addition of a cryoprotective agent (CPA) such as dimethyl sulfoxid (DMSO) shows an additional influence on the characteristics of the membrane of the cell. The optimal cooling rate was determined with these parameters. For cryopreservation without DMSO the optimal cooling rate was found to be 12.82 K/min. If the MSCs were frozen with 5% (v/v) DMSO the optimal cooling rate is 16.25 K/min.

Protein kinase A inhibitor, H89, significantly enhances survival rate of dissociated human embryonic stem cells following cryopreservation

OBJECTIVES

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) have huge potential for establishment of disease models and for treating degenerative diseases. However, the extremely low survival level of dissociated hESCs following cryopreservation is been a tremendous problem to allow for their rapid expansion, genetic manipulation and future medical applications. In this study, we have aimed to develop an efficient strategy to improve survival of dissociated hESCs after cryopreservation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Human embryonic stem cells (H9 line), dissociated into single cells, were cryopreserved using the slow-freezing method. Viable cells and their colony numbers in culture after cryopreservation were evaluated when treated with protein kinase A inhibitor H89. Western blotting was carried out to investigate mechanisms of low survival levels of dissociated hESCs following cryopreservation. Immunofluorescence, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), in vitro and in vivo differentiation were performed to testify to pluripotency and differentiation ability of hte cryopreserved cells treated with H89.

RESULTS

H89 significantly improved survival level of dissociated hESCs after cryopreservation through ROCK inhibition. H89-treated cells still maintained their pluripotency and differentiation capacity.

CONCLUSIONS

This new approach for cryopreservation of single hESCs, using H89, can promote potential use of hESCs in regenerative medicine in the future.

Sensitivity of human embryonic stem cells to different conditions during cryopreservation

Low cell recovery rate of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) resulting from cryopreservation damages leads to the difficulty in their successful commercialization of clinical applications. Hence in this study, sensitivity of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) to different cooling rates, ice seeding and cryoprotective agent (CPA) types was compared and cell viability and recovery after cryopreservation under different cooling conditions were assessed. Both extracellular and intracellular ice formation were observed. Reactive oxidative species (ROS) accumulation of hESCs was determined. Cryopreservation of hESCs at 1 °C/min with the ice seeding and at the theoretically predicted optimal cooling rate (TPOCR) led to lower level of intracellular ROS, and prevented irregular and big ice clump formation compared with cryopreservation at 1 °C/min. This strategy further resulted in a significant increase in the hESC recovery when glycerol and 1,2-propanediol were used as the CPAs, but no increase for Me2SO. hESCs after cryopreservation under all the tested conditions still maintained their pluripotency. Our results provide guidance for improving the hESC cryopreservation recovery through the combination of CPA type, cooling rate and ice seeding.