Maintenance of phenotype and function of cryopreserved bone-derived cells

The emerging fields of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine require large numbers of cells for therapy. Although the properties of cells obtained from a variety of fresh tissues have been delineated, the knowledge regarding cryopreserved grafts-derived cells remains elusive. Previous studies have shown that living cells could be isolated from cryopreserved bone grafts. However, whether cryopreserved bone-derived cells can be applied in regenerative medicine is largely unknown. The present study was to evaluate the potential application of cryopreserved grafts-derived cells for tissue regeneration. We showed that cells derived from cryopreserved bone grafts could maintain good proliferation activity and osteogenic phenotype. The biological phenotype of these cells could be well preserved. The transplantation of cryopreserved bone-derived cells on scaffold could promote new bone formation in nude mice and enhance the osteointegration for dental implants in canine, which confirmed their osteogenic capacity, and showed that cells derived from cryopreserved bone were comparable to that of fresh bone in terms of the ability to promote osteogenesis in vivo. This work demonstrates that cryopreserved bone grafts may represent a novel, accessible source of cells for tissue regeneration therapy, and the results of our study may also stimulate the development of other cryopreservation techniques in basic and clinical studies.