Effect of short-term cold storage on nephron progenitor cells

Cell-based therapy formulations must remain unchanged until they reach patients. Therefore, one challenge to overcome is preventing the spontaneous fusion between cellular aggregate formulations. An empirical practice is cooling cells on ice to keep them intact. However, no studies have examined the mechanisms underlying the inhibition of cellular fusion under low temperatures. In this study, focusing on around 24 h of storage time, we observed reversible inhibition of spontaneous fusion and retardation of cell multiplication at 4°C using cellular aggregates of human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived nephron progenitor cells (NPCs).