Hydrogel Cryopreservation System: An Effective Method for Cell Storage

• Main Authors: Chaocan Zhang, Youliang Zhou, Li Zhang, Lili Wu, Yanjun Chen, Dong Xie, Wanyu Chen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-10-01
• Series: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
• Subjects: cryopreservation; hydrogel; cell storage; supramolecular gel
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/19/11/3330

At present, living cells are widely used in cell transplantation and tissue engineering. Many efforts have been made aiming towards the use of a large number of living cells with high activity and integrated functionality. Currently, cryopreservation has become well-established and is effective for the long-term storage of cells. However, it is still a major challenge to inhibit cell damage, such as from solution injury, ice injury, recrystallization and osmotic injury during the thawing process, and the cytotoxicity of cryoprotectants. Hence, this review focused on different novel gel cryopreservation systems. Natural polymer hydrogel cryopreservation, the synthetic polymer hydrogel cryopreservation system and the supramolecular hydrogel cryopreservation system were presented, respectively. Due to the unique three-dimensional network structure of the hydrogel, these hydrogel cryopreservation systems have the advantages of excellent biocompatibility for natural polymer hydrogel cryopreservation systems, designability for synthetic polymer hydrogel cryopreservation systems, and versatility for supramolecular hydrogel cryopreservation systems. To some extent, the different hydrogel cryopreservation methods can confine ice crystal growth and decrease the change rates of osmotic shock in cell encapsulation systems. It is notable that the cryopreservation of complex cells and tissues is demanded in future clinical research and therapy, and depends on the linkage of different methods.