Ice-free preservation of large volume tissue samples for viable, functional tissue banking

1. A method for preserving living large volume cellular material, comprising:

exposing the cellular material to a cryoprotectant formulation containing from 0.5 M to 2 M of at least one sugar selected from trehalose and/or sucrose, wherein the cellular material is obtained from intestine, pancreas, testes, placenta, thymus, adrenal gland, arteries, veins and lymph nodes,

subjecting the cellular material to a preservation protocol in which ice-induced damage to the cellular material does not occur, wherein the preservation protocol includes a cooling protocol, a storage phase, and a warming protocol, where during the cooling protocol a continuous controlled rate of about −0.1 to about −2° C. per minute is used to cool the cellular material from a point of initiation temperature to −80° C. or lower, the point of initiation temperature being in a range of from about +4 to −30° C., and after completion of the preservation protocol, obtaining a cryopreserved cellular material; wherein

the cellular material has a volume greater than 4 mL.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cellular material has a volume greater than 10 mL.

3. A method for increasing production yield of viable cryopreserved cellular material, comprising:

exposure of a large volume cellular material to a cryoprotectant, the cryoprotectant containing from 0.5 M to 2 M of at least one sugar selected from trehalose and/or sucrose, wherein the cellular material is obtained from intestine, pancreas, testes, placenta, thymus, adrenal gland, arteries, veins and lymph nodes, for a predetermined amount of time to form a cryopreservation formulation;

subjecting the cryopreservation formulation to a preservation protocol comprising cryopreservation at a cryopreservation temperature of about −80° C. or lower, wherein

the preservation protocol includes a cooling protocol, a storage phase, and a warming protocol, where during the cooling protocol a continuous controlled rate of about −0.1 to about −2° C. per minute is used to cool the cellular material from a point of initiation temperature to the cryopreservation temperature of about −80° C. or lower, and the point of initiation temperature is in a range of from about +4 to −30° C.; and

after completion of the preservation protocol, recovering the cryopreserved cellular material; wherein a cell viability (%) of the recovered cryopreserved cellular material is at least 60% and the cellular material has a volume greater than 4 mL.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the preservation protocol includes a vitrification strategy that limits the growth of ice during cooling and warming such that ice-induced damage does not occur during the preservation protocol.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one sugar is trehalose.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein subjecting the cellular material to a preservation protocol comprises:

stepwise cryoprotectant addition to the cryoprotectant formulation to achieve a final cryoprotectant formulation with a cryoprotectant concentration and/or at least one sugar concentration effective to avoid ice-induced damage to the cellular material.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein

the preservation protocol further comprises cooling the cellular material in a cryoprotectant formulation containing at least one sugar,

a further cryoprotectant is added to the cryoprotectant formulation prior or during cooling, the further cryoprotectant being different from the sugar, and

the cryoprotectant formulation contains the at least one sugar and further cryoprotectant at a concentration of from 6.5 to about 11 M.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the further cryoprotectant is selected from the group consisting of acetamide, agarose, alginate, alanine, albumin, ammonium acetate, anti-freeze proteins, butanediol, chondroitin sulfate, chloroform, choline, cyclohexanediols, cyclohexanediones, cyclohexanetriols, dextrans, diethylene glycol, dimethyl acetamide, dimethyl formamide, dimethyl sulfoxide, erythritol, ethanol, ethylene glycol, ethylene glycol monomethyl ether, formamide, glucose, glycerol, glycerophosphate, glyceryl monoacetate, glycine, glycoproteins, hydroxyethyl starch, ice recrystalization inhibitors, inositol, lactose, magnesium chloride, magnesium sulfate, maltose, mannitol, mannose, methanol, methoxy propanediol, methyl acetamide, methyl formamide, methyl ureas, methyl glucose, methyl glycerol, phenol, pluronic polyols, polyethylene glycol, polyvinylpyrrolidone, proline, propanediol, pyridine N-oxide, raffinose, ribose, serine, sodium bromide, sodium chloride, sodium iodide, sodium nitrate, sodium nitrite, sodium sulfate, sorbitol, sucrose, trehalose, triethylene glycol, trimethylamine acetate, urea, valine and xylose.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cellular material is selected from human tissues, the human tissues being selected from the group consisting of arteries and veins.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein a cell viability (%) of the cellular material after completion of the preservation protocol is at least 60%.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the medium does not contain DMSO, formamide and/or propylene glycol.

12. The method of claim 3 , wherein the warming protocol includes a two-step warming procedure in which, during a first warming step, the cellular material that was stored is rewarmed in a first environment at a first warming temperature that is greater than the cryopreservation temperature, and then, in a second warming step, the cellular material is further rewarmed in a second environment at a second warming temperature that is greater than the first warming temperature used in the first warming step; wherein

the first environment is a gaseous atmosphere,

the first warming temperature is in the range of from about −15° C. to about −30° C., and

the second warming temperature is in a range of from about 35° C. to about 45° C.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the cellular material is selected from mammalian tissues, the mammalian tissues being selected from the group consisting of arteries and veins.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the cell viability (%) of the recovered cryopreserved cellular material is at least 80%.

15. A method for preserving living large volume cellular material, comprising:

exposing the cellular material to a cryoprotectant formulation containing from 0.5 M to 2 M of at least one sugar selected from trehalose and/or sucrose,

subjecting the cellular material to a preservation protocol in which ice-induced damage to the cellular material does not occur, wherein the preservation protocol includes a cooling protocol, a storage phase, and a warming protocol, where during the cooling protocol a continuous controlled rate of about −0.1 to about −2° C. per minute is used to cool the cellular material from a point of initiation temperature to −80° C. or lower, and the point of initiation temperature is in a range of from about +4 to −30° C., and after completion of the preservation protocol, obtaining a cryopreserved cellular material; wherein

the cellular material is a heart valve.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the heart valve is obtained from a mammalian source.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein

the exposing the cellular material to a cryoprotectant formulation containing from 0.5 M to 2 M of at least one sugar selected from trehalose and/or sucrose comprises immersing the heart valve in the cryoprotectant formulation containing the at least one sugar, and

the heart valve is not contacted via perfusion with a cryoprotectant-containing solution before, during or after the exposure to the cryoprotectant formulation containing the at least one sugar.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein

the exposing the cellular material to a cryoprotectant formulation containing from 0.5 M to 2 M of at least one sugar selected from trehalose and/or sucrose comprises immersing the cellular material in the cryoprotectant formulation containing the at least one sugar, and

the cellular material is not contacted via perfusion with a cryoprotectant-containing solution before, during or after the exposure to the cryoprotectant formulation containing the at least one sugar.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein during the cooling protocol the continuous controlled rate is about −0.1 to about −0.5° C. per minute.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the entire preservation protocol has a duration in a range of from at least 5 days up to about 2 months.