Human bone marrow (BM), peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC), and cord blood stem cells (CBSC) are widely used for transplantation in cancer treatment. Patients with leukemia often receive very high doses of chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy which severely damages or destroys bone marrow. Transplantation of BM, PBSC and CBSC can replace stem cells that were destroyed by these treatments and healthy, transplanted stem cells can then restore the ability of bone marrow to produce blood cells in vivo. BM and PBSC are the most frequently used cell types for treating leukemia and lymphoma, and cancers such as multiple myeloma and neuroblastoma (a cancer that arises in immature nerve cells which primarily affects infants and children). Improved methods for sample preparation, and long term storage and cryopreservation of bone marrow and blood samples are urgently needed. After harvesting BM or collecting PBSC and CBSC, samples are processed and frozen to maintain viability until transplantation. Stored blood samples often exhibit problems including cell loss and cell clumping. As the number of transplants continues to increase, research efforts by both public and commercial blood banks aimed at increasing cell viability and recovery after cryopreservation have increased dramatically. Using single cell gel microdrop (GMD) encapsulation technology, this research will develop a method for increasing cell viability and recovery after cryopreservation.
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