Rapid and Continuous Cryopreservation of Stem Cells with a 3D Micromixer
Lin Ding,
Sajad Razavi Bazaz,
Jesus Shrestha,
Hoseyn A. Amiri,
Sima Mas-hafi,
Balarka Banerjee,
Graham Vesey,
Morteza Miansari,
Majid Ebrahimi Warkiani
Affiliations
Lin Ding
School of Biomedical Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
Sajad Razavi Bazaz
School of Biomedical Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
Jesus Shrestha
School of Biomedical Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
Hoseyn A. Amiri
Micro+Nanosystems & Applied Biophysics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Babol Noshirvani University of Technology, P.O. Box 484, Babol 47148-71167, Iran
Sima Mas-hafi
Micro+Nanosystems & Applied Biophysics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Babol Noshirvani University of Technology, P.O. Box 484, Babol 47148-71167, Iran
Balarka Banerjee
Regeneus Ltd., Paddington, Sydney, NSW 2021, Australia
Graham Vesey
Regeneus Ltd., Paddington, Sydney, NSW 2021, Australia
Morteza Miansari
Micro+Nanosystems & Applied Biophysics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Babol Noshirvani University of Technology, P.O. Box 484, Babol 47148-71167, Iran
Majid Ebrahimi Warkiani
School of Biomedical Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
Cryopreservation is the final step of stem cell production before the cryostorage of the product. Conventional methods of adding cryoprotecting agents (CPA) into the cells can be manual or automated with robotic arms. However, challenging issues with these methods at industrial-scale production are the insufficient mixing of cells and CPA, leading to damage of cells, discontinuous feeding, the batch-to-batch difference in products, and, occasionally, cross-contamination. Therefore, the current study proposes an alternative way to overcome the abovementioned challenges; a highly efficient micromixer for low-cost, continuous, labour-free, and automated mixing of stem cells with CPA solutions. Our results show that our micromixer provides a more homogenous mixing of cells and CPA compared to the manual mixing method, while the cell properties, including surface markers, differentiation potential, proliferation, morphology, and therapeutic potential, are well preserved.
