Mesenchymal stem cells and Cryopreservation, a new concept

Abstract

Recently, there has been an increasing interest in the study of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which are considered as subtype of adult stem cells with the ability of differentiation into ectoderm (into neural cells), endoderm (into hepatocytes, insulin B producing cells) or mesoderm (into adipocytes, osteocytes, chondrocytes), this was associated with increased clinical application of such cells in the management of autoimmune diseases such as (Type 1 diabetes and Rheumatoid arthritis), degenerative diseases as (Parkinson‟s disease, Amylotrophic lateral sclerosis, and Alzheimer) and inflammatory diseases, and consequently increased the need for and effective and safe way of preservation of these cells for a long time without affecting the viability of the MSCs after the long-term preservation. This review discusses criteria of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), their markers, sources, methods of isolation and culturing, and their clinical applications, and then it discusses types of cryopreservation of MSCs and factors that may have an influence on viability of MSCs following the process of cryopreservation.