Impact of alginate concentration on the viability, cryostorage, and angiogenic activity of encapsulated fibroblasts

Cryopreservation or cryostorage of tissue engineered constructs can enhance the off-the shelf availability of these products and thus can potentially facilitate the commercialization or clinical translation of tissue engineered products. Encapsulation of cells within hydrogel matrices, in particular alginate, is widely used for fabrication of tissue engineered constructs. While previous studies have explored the cryopreservation response of cells encapsulated within alginate matrices, systematic investigation of the impact of alginate concentration on the metabolic activity and functionality of cryopreserved cells is lacking. The objective of the present work is to determine the metabolic and angiogenic activity of cryopreserved human dermal fibroblasts encapsulated within 1.0%, 1.5% and 2.0% (w/v) alginate matrices. In addition, the goal is to compare the efficacy of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and trehalose as cryoprotectant. Our study revealed that the concentration of alginate plays a significant role in the cryopreservation response of encapsulated cells. The lowest metabolic activity of the cryopreserved cells was observed in 1% alginate microspheres. When higher concentration of alginate was utilized for cell encapsulation, the metabolic and angiogenic activity of the cells frozen in the absence of cryoprotectants was comparable to that observed in the presence of DMSO or trehalose.