Hi everybody,
We are setting up a new laboratory. We want to examine the immunological response to the presence of different bacterial species. Therefore, we have to store human cell lines and also isolates from patients including PBMCs.
Due to some logistical issues connected to the building structure, we are looking for alternatives to store these cells to circumvent all the trouble with new establishment of liquid nitrogen storage.
For several years now, there is the possibility to get mechanical cryogenic, or ultra-deep freezer reaching -150°C. This is nice but still around 50°C “hotter” than traditional liquid nitrogen. So, the question is: Is there any known influence to the vitality of the cells or something else we should consider? Please tell me about your experiences with these systems and your cells.
Thank you all,
Sylvio
Hello, Sylvio Redanz
We do have a mechanical freezer in our research facility where we keep our cells (PBMCs included) at -150 degrees Celsius. I must say that the -150 is not constant. Sometimes the display shows -149, -148 etc. After we open the lid and take/add PBMC vials, the temperature can rise up to -143-ish, but it never raises too much. The glass transition temperature for water is -137 degrees Celsius so there should be no problem if you have slight variations around your -150 set point. Check the second paragraph of the Background section in this article.
Article The Effects of Storage Temperature on PBMC Gene Expression
So far, the freezer worked great for us and we had no issues whatsoever with it, the thawed cells were fine and the post-sthaw viability was consistent.
Wish you the best with your new establishment!
Hi Ion Bogdan Mănescu,
that feels very helpful. Thank you for not only sharing your opinion and your experiences in that field but also for forwarding that article. I think we made our decision for such an device…
Best wishes to Romania,
Sylvio
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