Cryobiology: cryopreservation and cryostorage of cells/tissue engineered constructs

Cryobiology covers a wide range of activities within a diversity of scientific aspects, like so many disciplines in a broader field of biomedicine. The potential for cryobiology to solve key issues in medicine is enormous. The application of cryobiology to human reproductive cells, particularly eggs (oocytes), and tissue storage is instrumental in implementing novel therapeutic options. Advances in complex tissue engineered solutions for medical treatments rely upon cryobiology to enable a consistent and reliable supply. The ability of cryobanking of living organs for transplantation could propel medicine and cryobiology, in particular vitrification (ice-free low temperature preservation), offers a solution to this problem. The advancement of any discipline in science requires developing new concepts (a), application of the fundamental sciences to existing problems (b) and the development of innovative technologies (c). Since 1999, when the birth of the first baby from an embryo derived vitrified oocytes was reported by Kuleshova and co-workers, this concept has been recognized and implemented worldwide. In the past decade, next to stem cell cryopreservation the vitrification of tissue engineered constructs became of the major interest. Consequently, cryopreservation principles for tissue engineered constructs and 3D stem cell cultures established at Kuleshova’s laboratory are wide spreading and vitrification methodology is advancing.

低温生物学（Cryobiology）与生物医学大领域内的诸多学科一样，涵盖了多维度科学层面的广泛研究活动。其在解决医学关键问题上具备巨大潜力。将低温生物学应用于人类生殖细胞，尤以卵母细胞(oocytes)为代表，以及组织保存，可为新型治疗方案的落地提供关键支撑。医疗领域复杂组织工程解决方案的研发进展，依赖低温生物学以实现稳定可靠的供给。可用于移植的活体器官低温保存能力有望推动医学与低温生物学领域的发展，其中玻璃化冷冻（vitrification，无冰低温保存技术）更是为该问题提供了可行解决方案。任何科学学科的发展，都离不开三大核心路径：一是提出全新概念（a），二是将基础科学原理应用于现存问题（b），三是研发创新技术（c）。1999年，库列绍娃（Kuleshova）及其同事首次报道了由玻璃化冷冻卵母细胞发育而来的胚胎孕育的婴儿诞生，自此这一理念便在全球范围内得到认可与推广应用。在过去十年间，除干细胞低温保存之外，组织工程构建物的玻璃化冷冻也成为了研究热点。因此，库列绍娃实验室所确立的组织工程构建物与三维干细胞培养物低温保存原理正得到广泛传播，玻璃化冷冻技术方法也在持续迭代进步。