Vitrification of human umbilical cord Wharton's jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells.

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether vitrification is an effective cryopreservation method for storage of human umbilical cord mesenchymal cells (HUCMs). HUCMs were vitrified using a two step method. The viability of vitrified HUCMs (v-HUCM) and non-vitrified HUCMs (n-HUCM) was determined by Trypan Blue staining. The expression of several markers was evaluated using flow cytometry. The osteogenic, adipogenic and chondrogenic differentiation potential of v-HUCMs and n-HUCMs was determined. The post-warming viability of HUCMs was 95.54 +/- 2.30. The expression of surface antigens (strong positive for CD44, CD90 and CD105; negative for CD34 and CD45) was similar in the above mentioned groups. The v-HUCM cells retained ability to differentiate into osteoblasts, adipocytes and chondrocytes under appropriate culture conditions. The analysis of these results showed that vitrification is a reliable and effective method for cryopreservation of human umbilical cord mesenchymal cells.