Examination of Post-Thaw Behavior between DMSO and Non-DMSO Cyopreserved Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Abstract

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) provide great potential for off the shelf therapeutics because of their immunomodulatory paracrine effects. Clinical trials have utilized MSCs to treat autoimmune diseases but low efficacy, possibly due to cryopreservation methods, has limited trial progression. MSCs cryopreserved in DMSO survive well but have been shown to exhibit functional differences compared to fresh cells. This has created a need for DMSO-free cryoprotectants and for defined assays to test their functionality. To test functional aspects of MSCs post thaw we utilized recovery, viability, attachment and proliferation assays as well as pSTAT1 activity in an attempt to highlight the effects of DMSO cryopreservation on freshly thawed cells. Additionally, we provide evidence through the addition of a DMSO-free cryopreservation solutions that there may be alternatives to freezing cells than the industry standard DMSO. One solution specifically, SGI showed similar behavior to DMSO frozen samples in all metrics. The discovery and definition of DMSO-free cryoprotectants may help increase efficacy in clinical trials and help move current MSCs treatments closer to off the shelf therapies.