Researchers at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, in collaboration with the American Fluoroseal Corporation (AFC), have invented a device that separates a small portion of a cryopreserved biological material stored in a collection bag while maintaining the cryopreserved integrity, sterility, and viability of the original cryopreserved material. This device may be used to retrieve small aliquots samples of various cryopreserved cellular products and biological materials such as umbilical cord blood (UCB), blood mononuclear cells, stem cells, semen, and plasma, while maintaining the viability and sterility of both the retrieved sample and the original cryopreserved material.
Cryopreservation through freezing in liquid nitrogen allows the storage of biological materials for extended periods while maintaining their activity and viability. It is commonly used in the clinic to store blood cells, semen, and UCB for future use. These materials are typically only obtainable in limited quantities and may be of great therapeutic value, as is the case of hematopoietic stem cells from UCB, which can be used to treat and cure a number of different life-threatening illnesses. It is common practice to cryopreserve viably in bags a variety of different cells obtained from the blood. Currently, even if only a small portion of the cryopreserved sample is needed, the whole bag must be thawed, wasting much of the sample since it cannot be effectively refrozen. There is a need for a method of retrieving a small sample from a frozen sample of cells in a bag while preserving the cryopreserved state and integrity of the rest of the cellular material.
Applications
- Retrieving hematopoietic stem cells from cryopreserved UCB unit to reconstitute the bone marrow of cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy and chemotherapy
- Retrieving portions of cryopreserved blood cells for expansion of antigen reactive T-cells, NK cells, and hematopoietic stem cells in the laboratory
- Sampling of cryopreserved blood plasma for detection of cytokines, chemokines, or other proteins, infectious agents or performance-enhancing drugs
- Ability to isolate portions or cryopreserved biological materials while retaining viability, sterility, and cryopreserved integrity of remaining material
- Compatibility with thousands of blood bags presently stored in commercial and public blood banks
More info: Cecilia Pazman, Ph.D.; 301-402-5579; pazmance@mail.nih.gov
