Anhydrous Preservation of Mammalian Cells: Cumulative Osmotic Stress Analysis

Technologies and Applications Toward Preservation of Cells in a Dry State for Therapies

Cell-based therapeutics promise to transform the treatment of a wide range of diseases, many of which, up to this point, are incurable. During the past decade, an increasing number of cell therapies have been approved by government regulatory agencies in the United States, Europe, and Japan. Thousands of clinical trials based on live cell therapies are now taking place around the world. But most of these live cell therapies face temporal and/or spatial distances between manufacture and administration, posing a risk of degradation in potency. Cryopreservation has become the predominant biobanking approach to maintain the product's safety and efficacy during transportation and storage. However, the necessity of cryogenic shipment and storage could limit patient access to these emerging therapies and increase the costs of logistics. In the (bio)pharmaceutical industries, freeze-drying and desiccation are established preservation procedures for manufacturing small molecule drugs, liposomes, and monoclonal antibodies. Over the past two decades, there has been a growing body of research exploring the freeze-drying or drying of mammalian cells, with varying degrees of success. This article provides an overview of the technologies that were adopted or developed in these pioneering studies, paving the road toward the preservation of cell-based therapeutics in a dry state for biomanufacturing.

Light-assisted drying for protein stabilization

A light-based processing method to create an amorphous trehalose matrix for the stabilization of proteins is discussed. This method has potential applications in the stabilization of protein-based therapeutics and diagnostics. During light-assisted drying (LAD), proteins suspended in a trehalose solution are dehydrated using near-infrared (NIR) laser light. The goal of this study was to determine processing parameters that resulted in fast processing times and low end moisture contents (EMC), while maintaining the functionality of embedded proteins. We compared the effect of changing processing wavelength, power and resulting sample temperature, and substrate material on the EMC for two NIR laser sources (1064 and 1850 nm). The 1850-nm laser resulted in the lowest EMC (0.03  ±  0.01  gH2O  /  gDryWeight) after 20 min of processing on glass microfiber paper. This suggests a storage temperature of 68.3°C. We also tested the functionality of a model protein, lysozyme, after LAD processing using a standard assay. LAD showed no significant effect on the functionality of lysozyme when processed at a maximum temperature of ∼44  °  C to an EMC of 0.17  ±  0.06  gH2O  /  gDryWeight. LAD is a promising technique for forming amorphous trehalose solids that could stabilize proteins at ambient temperatures.

Development of a surface tension mediated technique for dry stabilization of mammalian cells

Dry state preservation at ambient temperatures (lyopreservation) is a biomimetic alternative to low temperature stabilization (cryopreservation) of biological materials. Lyopreservation is hypothesized to rely upon the creation of a glassy environment, which is commonly observed in desiccation-tolerant organisms. Non-uniformities in dried samples have been indicated as one of the reasons for instability in storage outcome. The current study presents a simple, fast, and uniform surface tension based technique that can be implemented for lyopreservation of mammalian cells. The technique involves withdrawing cells attached to rigid substrates to be submerged in a solution of lyoprotectant and then withdrawing the samples at a specific rate to an inert environment. This creates a uniform thin film of desiccated lyoprotectant due to sudden change of surface tension. The residual moisture contents at different locations in the desiccated film was quantified using a spatially resolved Raman microspectroscopy technique. Post-desiccation cellular viability and growth are quantified using fluorescent microscopy and dye exclusion assays. Cellular injury following desiccation is evaluated by bioenergetic quantification of metabolic functions using extracellular flux analysis and by a Raman microspectroscopic analysis of change in membrane structure. The technique developed here addresses an important bottleneck of lyoprocessing which requires the fast and uniform desiccation of cellular samples.

A technique for lyopreservation of Clostridium ljungdahlii in a biocomposite matrix for CO absorption

A system capable of biocatalytic conversion of distributed sources of single carbon gases such as carbon monoxide into hydrocarbons can be highly beneficial for developing commercially viable biotechnology applications in alternative energy. Several anaerobic bacterial strains can be used for such conversion. The anaerobic carbon monoxide-fixing bacteria Clostridium ljungdahlii OTA1 is a model CO assimilating microorganism that currently requires cryogenic temperature for storage of the viable strains. If these organisms can be stabilized and concentrated in thin films in advanced porous materials, it will enable development of high gas fraction, biocomposite absorbers with elevated carbon monoxide (CO) mass transfer rate, that require minimal power input and liquid, and demonstrate elevated substrate consumption rate compared to conventional suspended cell bioreactors. We report development of a technique for dry-stabilization of C. ljungdahlii OTA1 on a paper biocomposite. Bacterial samples coated onto paper were desiccated in the presence of trehalose using convective drying and stored at 4°C. Optimal dryness was ~1g H₂O per gram of dry weight (g_DW). CO uptake directly following biocomposite rehydration steadily increases over time indicating immediate cellular metabolic recovery. A high-resolution Raman microspectroscopic hyperspectral imaging technique was employed to spatially quantify the residual moisture content. We have demonstrated for the first time that convectively dried and stored C. ljungdahlii strains were stabilized in a desiccated state for over 38 days without a loss in CO absorbing reactivity. The Raman hyperspectral imaging technique described here is a non-invasive characterization tool to support development of dry-stabilization techniques for microorganisms on inexpensive porous support materials. The present study successfully extends and implements the principles of dry-stabilization for preservation of strictly anaerobic bacteria as an alternative to lyophilization or spray drying that could enable centralized biocomposite biocatalyst fabrication and decentralized bioprocessing of CO to liquid fuels or chemicals.

Resilience of oocyte germinal vesicles to microwave-assisted drying in the domestic cat model

The ability to compact and inject the cat germinal vesicle (GV) into a recipient cytoplast allows exploration of a new fertility preservation strategy that avoids whole oocyte freezing. The objective of the present study was to understand the impact of water loss and storage time on GV DNA integrity. Immature cat oocytes were exposed to 1.5 M trehalose for 10 min before microwave-assisted dehydration for 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, or 40 min. Oocytes then were rehydrated to assess chromatin configuration and the incidence of DNA fragmentation (TUNEL assay). The moisture content progressively decreased (p<0.05) from 1.7 to 0.1 gH2O/gDW over the first 30 min, but did not decrease further (p>0.05) after 40 min. Chromatin configuration was unaffected (p>0.05) over time. The percentage of GVs with DNA fragmentation was unaltered (p>0.05) from 0 to 30 min of treatment (range, 6.1%-12%), but increased (p<0.05) to 32.5% after 40 min. Next, the influence of storage at two different supra-zero temperatures after 30 min of drying was investigated. Oocyte-loaded, microwave-treated filters were individually sealed in Dri-Shield moisture barrier bags and stored at 4°C or ambient temperature for 0 to 8 weeks. Moisture contents gradually decreased (p<0.05) from 0.12 to 0.10 gH2O/gDW after 8 weeks of storage at 4°C or ambient temperature. The percentage of GVs with DNA fragmentation more than doubled (p<0.05) from 0 (14.3%) to 2 days (30.0%-33.0%), but remained stable (p>0.05) thereafter (1 through 4 weeks, 25.0%-35.0%). Collective results demonstrate the feasibility of using microwave processing to dehydrate the mammalian GV to a moisture content that is nonlethal and enables nonfrozen storage, an alternative approach for preserving the maternal genome at cool or ambient temperature.

Advancing microwave technology for dehydration processing of biologics

Our prior work has shown that microwave processing can be effective as a method for dehydrating cell-based suspensions in preparation for anhydrous storage, yielding homogenous samples with predictable and reproducible drying times. In the current work an optimized microwave-based drying process was developed that expands upon this previous proof-of-concept. Utilization of a commercial microwave (CEM SAM 255, Matthews, NC) enabled continuous drying at variable low power settings. A new turntable was manufactured from Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMW-PE; Grainger, Lake Forest, IL) to provide for drying of up to 12 samples at a time. The new process enabled rapid and simultaneous drying of multiple samples in containment devices suitable for long-term storage and aseptic rehydration of the sample. To determine sample repeatability and consistency of drying within the microwave cavity, a concentration series of aqueous trehalose solutions were dried for specific intervals and water content assessed using Karl Fischer Titration at the end of each processing period. Samples were dried on Whatman S-14 conjugate release filters (Whatman, Maidestone, UK), a glass fiber membrane used currently in clinical laboratories. The filters were cut to size for use in a 13 mm Swinnex(®) syringe filter holder (Millipore(™), Billerica, MA). Samples of 40 μL volume could be dehydrated to the equilibrium moisture content by continuous processing at 20% with excellent sample-to-sample repeatability. The microwave-assisted procedure enabled high throughput, repeatable drying of multiple samples, in a manner easily adaptable for drying a wide array of biological samples. Depending on the tolerance for sample heating, the drying time can be altered by changing the power level of the microwave unit.

Cryopreservation of spin-dried mammalian cells

This study reports an alternative approach to achieve vitrification where cells are pre-desiccated prior to cooling to cryogenic temperatures for storage. Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells suspended in a trehalose solution were rapidly and uniformly desiccated to a low moisture content (<0.12 g of water per g of dry weight) using a spin-drying technique. Trehalose was also introduced into the cells using a high-capacity trehalose transporter (TRET1). Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to examine the uniformity of water concentration distribution in the spin-dried samples. 62% of the cells were shown to survive spin-drying in the presence of trehalose following immediate rehydration. The spin-dried samples were stored in liquid nitrogen (LN(2)) at a vitrified state. It was shown that following re-warming to room temperature and re-hydration with a fully complemented cell culture medium, 51% of the spin-dried and vitrified cells survived and demonstrated normal growth characteristics. Spin-drying is a novel strategy that can be used to improve cryopreservation outcome by promoting rapid vitrification.