Cryopreservation of Brown Bear Skin Biopsies

Abstract

Genetic resource banks and assisted reproductive technologies support the conservation of endangered or threatened species. In this study we assessed two procedures to cryopreserve skin biopsies from live brown bears. Skin biopsies were taken from six live, anesthetized brown bears. Single biopsies (n ‫؍‬ 3) of each animal were cut into small pieces and assigned to one of the three experimental groups: freezing, vitrification, or untreated fresh. There were no differences on cell attachment. However, both freezing and fresh culture allowed for higher cell proliferation (p Ͻ 0.05) and less days to reach 70% to 80% confluence (p Ͻ 0.03) than vitrification. Skin biopsies from brown bears can be preserved long term, allowing fibroblasts to proliferate in culture. Slow freezing was effective to cryopreserve skin biopsies from brown bears. 83

The initial steps toward the formation of somatic tissue banks and cell cultures derived from captive Antillean manatee (Trichechus manatus manatus) skin biopsies

“…Nevertheless, the alteration in the other parameters of tissues cryopreserved by SSV may have been caused by high concentrations of cryoprotectants. In a study by Caamaño et al (2008), vitrification showed lower efficiency compared to SF and noncryopreserved tissues derived from brown bears ( Ursus arctos ), suggesting that high concentrations of cryoprotectants affect the quality of vitrified tissues. Additionally, other factors may influence the efficiency of the SSV, such as the use of a pre‐equilibration solution/step, tissue type (Caputcu et al, 2013), tissue thickness (Carvalho et al, 2013), warming and reanimation conditions (Lima et al, 2018).…”

“…Nevertheless, the alteration in the other parameters of tissues cryopreserved by SSV may have been caused by high concentrations of cryoprotectants. In a study by Caamaño et al (2008), vitrification showed lower efficiency compared to SF and noncryopreserved tissues derived from brown bears (Ursus arctos),…”

“…Vitrification is a simple and low‐cost technique that can be used to collect somatic samples (Caamaño et al, 2008). Nevertheless, in the present study, SSV maintained dermis thickness, similar to noncryopreserved tissues, but altered most other histological parameters of somatic tissues of Antillean manatees.…”

CONSERVAÇÃO DE TECIDOS SOMÁTICOS DE CATETOS (Pecari tajacu LINNAEUS, 1758) SUBMETIDO A DIFERENTES CONDIÇÕES DE ARMAZENAMENTO

“…Assim, como técnicas de conservação de tecidos somáticos usadas em mamíferos silvestres, têm-se a criopreservação por congelação lenta (Caamaño et al, 2008), por vitrificação (Borges et al, 2017) e a refrigeração (Queiroz Neta et al, 2018). Esta última tem sido empregada especialmente para o transporte ou conservação em curto prazo de tecidos somáticos de indivíduos localizados em regiões de difícil acesso ou distantes dos laboratórios especializados (Tovar et al, 2008).…”

Quantitative and descriptive histological aspects of jaguar (Panthera onca Linnaeus, 1758) ear skin as a step towards formation of biobanks

“…For all these applications, attention to the establishment of biobanks using the skin, especially for species threatened with extinction, has increased in recent years (Tunstall et al, ), as the skin provides a greater recovery of the genetic diversity of the population regardless of gender and age of the individual (León‐Quinto et al, ). In this sense, somatic banks using the skin have been implemented in some wild species of endangered felids, such as the Iberian lynx ( Lynx pardinus , León‐Quinto et al, ), marbled cats ( Pardofelis marmorata ) and flat‐headed cats ( Prionailurus planiceps , Thongphakedee et al, ), as well other wild mammals such as the brown bear ( Ursus arctos , Caamaño et al, ) and collared peccaries ( Pecari tajacu , Borges, Lima, et al, ).…”