Storage Challenges

Storage of biological material comprising living cells during both short and prolonged periods of time represents one of the most significant challenges in modern medical science. Cooling to a temperature within the range -20 C to -176 C in the presence of cryo-protecting substances still represents the most broadly used method for storage of living cells. The mechanism of cryo-protection involves preventing formation of ice crystals that destroy cells and/or cellular components. However, these and other conventional methods for cell preservation induce stress on the cells being stored, and apoptosis is almost always induced in a portion of cells that are subjected to manipulations involved in storage. Further, cells that are obtained directly from organs and tissues and are not cultured are often injured during storage and transportation. Thus, there is an ongoing and unmet need for improved methods for preserving cells and protecting them from apoptosis, during storage and/or transportation.

CPT Storage Technology

We demonstrated that it is possible to store various cell cultures at the refrigerated conditions in the specifically designed modified atmosphere, containing xenon. This storage can be performed in the media natural for the cellular culture and does not require washing off the storage additives. It also extends the time while cells can be stored or transported without freezing providing more flexibility in the supply chain.

The technology is based on the ability of xenon to block caspase 3 hyper-activation in chilled samples and protecting mitochondria from disrupting its membrane potential (please contact us for further information,

Our approach can be used for fast and convenient preservation of cellular cultures for research purposes as well as it has potential to become the standard of storage and transportation for biological specimens in the clinical practice.