Cryopreservation of Hematopoietic Cells

Storage characteristics of cord blood progenitor cells: report of a multicenter study by the cellular therapies team of the Biomedical Excellence for Safer Transfusion (BEST) Collaborative

“…Critical factors for HPC viability include temperature, cell concentration, time of storage and/or transportation, and the influence of other cell populations, for example, RBCs and neutrophils, and published reports suggest that if cells are stored without further processing for up to 24 hours, then HPC viability is better maintained at lower temperatures 7,8 . Clearly factors impacting HPC viability cannot be considered in isolation as, for example, increasing the cell concentration might adversely impact viability when storage is prolonged, for example, overnight 3 …”

“…Umbilical cord blood is typically transported at room temperature (RT) and according to AABB and the Netcord‐Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (Netcord‐FACT) standards, cord blood hematopoietic progenitor cell (HPC) products are to be processed and cryopreserved within 48 hours of collection 1,2 . The temperature, time taken for transportation, cell concentration, and the presence of other cell populations in cord blood HPCs are important variables that may influence their subsequent number, viability, and proliferative potential 3,4 . An initial report on cord blood HPCs indicated that colony‐forming units (CFUs) remained functionally viable for up to 72 hours at 4°C or RT 5 .…”

“…Data from other laboratories indicate that storage at 2 to 6°C is not detrimental to stem cell recovery 6 and Antonenas and coworkers 7 reported that CD34+ cells in apheresis HPCs, but not marrow HPCs, have reduced viability when stored overnight at RT compared to storage at 2 to 8°C. It has also been reported that HPCs stored overnight at RT have a lower pH when compared to products stored at 4°C, because cells are less metabolically active at 4°C than at RT 3 . It has been found that when HPCs are stored overnight at RT with a cell concentration of greater than 200 × 10 9 /L, there is a significant reduction of the cell viability and the recovery of CD34+ cells and colony‐forming unit–granulocyte‐macrophage (CFU‐GM) 8 .…”

“…Systematic studies of these variables are still needed and while some, such as cell concentration, may be of relatively low importance individually, in combination there is the potential for significant loss of cell viability. Moreover, the significance of these factors varies according to the type of product, for example, in cord blood HPCs and marrow HPCs, the total nucleated cell (TNC) count rarely exceeds 100 × 10 9 /L but the red blood cell (RBC) volume is in the range 25% to 35%, whereas apheresis HPC components may have TNC counts of greater than 200 × 10 9 /L but the RBC volume is usually less than 10% 3 . Cell therapy facilities must also comply with the regulatory requirements of the European Union (EU) and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as the Netcord‐FACT, FACT‐JACIE, AABB, and World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA) standards, 1,2,10‐13 which require, for example, that product temperature is maintained as specified by processing facilities during transport, that shipping facilities should maintain a record of temperature during transport, and that receiving facilities should verify and record the acceptability (i.e., integrity, appearance) of the product 1,2,10‐13 .…”

Mobilization of Hematopoietic Stem Cells for Use in Autologous Transplantation

“…Understanding the science of HSC cryopreservation is beyond the scope of this article, but a review of the basic principles will complement nurses' overall knowledge of transplantation and explain some of the side effects that nurses may observe during the infusion of the graft. Rowley (2004) outlined six principles of HSC cryopreservation. The first principle is to reduce the number of mature blood cells in the graft because mature blood cells do not tolerate cryopreservation well.…”