High sensitivity of megakaryocytic progenitor cells contained in placental umbilical cord blood to the stresses during cryopreservation

• Published in: Bone marrow transplantation (Basingstoke) Vol. 34; no. 6; pp. 537 - 543
• Main Authors: XU, Y, KASHIWAKURA, I, TAKAHASHI, T. A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basingstoke Nature Publishing Group 01.09.2004
• Subjects: Anesthesia. Intensive care medicine. Transfusions. Cell therapy and gene therapy; Biological and medical sciences; Blood; Bone marrow; Bone marrow transplantation; Bone marrow, stem cells transplantation. Graft versus host reaction; Cell Survival; Chlorofluorocarbons; Colony-forming cells; Colony-Forming Units Assay; Cooling; Cooling rate; Cord blood; Cryopreservation; Cryopreservation - methods; Cryopreservation of organs, tissues, etc; Cryoprotectors; Cytokines; Delivery, Obstetric; Female; Fetal blood; Fetal Blood - cytology; Freezing; Hematopoietic stem cells; Humans; Leukocytes; Medical sciences; Megakaryocytes - cytology; Methods; Patients; PCB; Peripheral blood; Physiological aspects; Placenta; Platelets; Polychlorinated biphenyls; Pregnancy; Progenitor cells; Sensitivity; Stem cell transplantation; Stem cells; Stem Cells - cytology; Storage; Stresses; Thawing; Thrombocytopenia; Tissue Banks; Transfusions. Complications. Transfusion reactions. Cell and gene therapy; Transplantation; Umbilical Cord; Japan; Hematology; Fetal membrane; CFU-Meg-Cell; Leukocyte; Stem cell; Megakaryocyte; CFU-Meg; leukocyte concentrates; Blood; Stress; Sensitivity; Placenta; Cryopreservation; placental/umbilical cord blood; Concentrate; Umbilical cord
• ISSN: 0268-3369; 1476-5365
• DOI: 10.1038/sj.bmt.1704632

In placental/umbilical cord blood (PCB) banking and PCB transplantation (PCBT), long-term cryopreservation of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells is a unique requirement as compared to that for bone marrow transplantation and cytokine-mobilized peripheral blood transplantation. A long period of severe thrombocytopenia is a problem in many patients after PCBT. The object of this study was to define whether megakaryocytic progenitor cells (CFU-Meg), which produce platelets, are more sensitive to cryopreservation than the other myeloid progenitor cells in PCB. The leukocyte concentrates (LCs) obtained from clinical PCB banks were cryopreserved, and progenitor cell recoveries were determined by differential count of colony-forming cells (CFCs). The LCs were exposed to stresses which cells face during freezing, thawing, and washing out cryoprotectants. Most of the myeloid progenitor cells contained in the LCs showed good survival when cryopreserved at slow cooling rates, although cellular injury was observed at higher cooling rates and higher osmolalities. In contrast, the recovery rate of CFU-Meg was significantly lower than other progenitor cells, indicating a higher sensitivity to the various stresses they were exposed to during cryopreservation. Thrombocytopenia observed in patients receiving PCBT may be explained, at least in part, by the disappearance of CFU-Meg during cryopreservation.