(XLSX) Click here for extra data file

(XLSX) Click here for extra data file.(25K, xlsx) Funding Statement This study was supported by the Program for the Strategic Research Foundation at Private Universities from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (http://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/koutou/shinkou/07021403/002/002/1218299.htm) to KN and ON. cells. This study focused on the effects of various cryopreservation reagents on Vincristine HCEC viability. Screening of several commercially available cryopreservation reagents identified Bambanker hRM as an effective agent that maintained Rabbit polyclonal to ASH2L a cell viability of 89.4% after 14 days of cryopreservation, equivalent to the cell viability of 89.2% for non-cryopreserved control cells. The use of Bambanker hRM and HCECs Vincristine at a similar grade to that used clinically for cell based therapy (passage 3C5 and a cell density higher than 2000 cells/mm2) gave a similar cell density for cryopreserved HCECs to that of Vincristine non-preserved control HCECs after 28 days of cultivation (2099 cells/mm2 and 2111 cells/mm2, respectively). HCECs preserved using Bambanker hRM grew in a similar fashion to non-preserved control HCECs and formed a monolayer sheet-like structure. Cryopreservation of HCECs has multiple advantages including the ability to accumulate stocks of grasp cells, to transport HCEC stocks, and to manufacture HCECs on demand for use in cell-based treatment of endothelial decompensation. Introduction The cornea is usually a transparent tissue that works as a lens within the eye to focus light onto the retina. Consequently, the cornea must retain its transparency if it is to serve this function. This transparency is usually maintained by the corneal endothelium, which regulates water flow between the aqueous humor and the corneal stroma by pump-and-leak barrier functions [1]. However, the corneal endothelial cells (CECs) that perform this function have severely limited proliferative capacity [2], so any severe damage to the corneal endothelium, such as that arising from pathological conditions like Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy or from iatrogenic damage during cataract surgery, causes irreversible cell loss. A reduction in Vincristine the CEC density below a critical level (usually less than 500 cells/mm2) disrupts water regulation by the corneal endothelium and leads to the loss of corneal transparency [3]. At present, the only treatment for this corneal endothelial decompensation is usually transplantation of a donor cornea: no other treatment, including the use of pharmaceutical brokers, is usually available [4]. The most common transplantation was originally full thickness penetrating keratoplasty, performed since the 1900s [4], but corneal endothelial transplantations, such as Descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK) and Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK), have gained popularity in the last decade [5C8]. However, tissue engineering technology is now receiving increased attention, as researchers view this as a way to overcome the main problems of corneal transplantations, which include a shortage of donor corneas, late graft failure due to continuous cell loss, graft rejection, and the learning curve involved in performing corneal transplant procedures [9C14]. In 2013, we initiated clinical research into cell-based therapy involving injection of a suspension of cultured human corneal endothelial cells (HCECs), in combination with a Rho kinase inhibitor, into the anterior chamber [15]. We recently reported the clinical outcome of the first 11 cases of human patients with endothelial decompensation who underwent this cell-based treatment. All 11 cases recovered corneal transparency and none experienced any severe adverse effects, either local or systemic [15]. For this clinical research, the HCECs were obtained from donor corneas and expanded in in vitro culture in the cell processing center (CPC) at the Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine. The HCECs were harvested from a culture plate, placed in a tube in the form of a cell suspension, and immediately transported to the operating room in the same facility [15]. This clinical research showed the effectiveness and safety of this new procedure, so our next goal is usually to obtain approval for this cell-based therapy from regulatory authorities, including.