Cryopreservation and Storage of Biological Objects

Each biopreparation (tissue fragment, cell dose, extract or suspension) is placed into a special sealed container with corresponding label and passport and stored under liquid nitrogen (-196°C).

Nowadays the low temperatures are the unique means, allowing to store cells, tissues and essential compounds for a long time period, in terms of decades, in a viable state, maximally approached to the initial one.

The presence in freezing medium of protective compound: cryoprotectants is indispensable for avoiding cell and tissue damages under freezing. The efficiency of low temperature preservation is determined by optimal selection of a cryoprotectant type, its concentration, contact time of a frozen object with it and some other conditions

Final result of cryopreservation depends also on the rate, depth and duration of cooling. For each biological object there is developed an individual cryopreservation program.

The selection of corresponding containers is an important problem, inevitably occurring at a long-term storage under low temperature conditions. Certain requirements are met to the containers both as for achieving their sterility and resistance to low temperature effect, as well as the hermetic sealing preservation. Among a big number of variants we have chosen the containers, that maximally meet these requirements of well-known companies, producing them or special materials, which they are made of.

The time factor can be also referred to significant advantages of cryopreservation, since namely because of a long-term storage there are created the conditions, providing the transplantation material thorough testing for a recipient's safety.

World experience in long-term low temperature storage of biological objects, as well as the elaborations of the Institute for Problems of Cryobiology and Cryomedicine of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, which scientific theme is the investigations of low temperature effect on biological objets, was assumed as a basis for the used cryopreservation methods.

The elaboration of modern cryopreservation technologies with meeting the world standards, as well as the European Association of Tissue Banks requirements to the preparing of transplantation material, its testing, labelling and storage permitted to Low Temperature Bank for biological objects, having the status of the national endowment of Ukraine and being a part of the Institute for Problems of Cryobiology and Cryomedicine of the National Academy of Sciences, to take an active part in the work of the European Association of Tissue Banks.