Major Concerns with the Cryostorage of Mammalian Cell Cultures

Abstract

Cell cultures are of 3 types, viz. animal/human, bacterialand plant. In the laboratory, storage protocols are used tokeep, preserve or regenerate these cells. However, thesituation in all 3 cell types, with regard to the reason forstorage, is different. It’s known that when usingmammalian (animal/human) cells in tissue cultureexperiments, not only is the factor of contamination aproblem (like in plant tissue culture andmicropropagation), but cryostorage is also a majorconcern. Freeze fractures, uncontrollable cell death,untimely cell proliferation and the formation of ice-crystals are possibilities that exist during the cryofreezingof stored mammalian cell cultures. In this article, themajor concerns pertaining to cryostorage in mammaliancells will be discussed. Although not much emphasiswould be placed on treatment protocols, this paperprovides important emphasis on the need to use‘constituent-designed’ (the correct proportions) storageprotocols.