Abstract
Transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) has emerged as an alternative strategy to treat knee osteoarthritis. In this context, MSCs derived from synovial fluid could provide higher chondrogenic and cartilage regeneration, presenting synovial fluid as an appropriate MSCs source. An allogeneic and biomimetic bioscaffold composed of Platelet Rich Plasma and synovial fluid that preserve and mimics the natural environment of MSCs isolated from knee has also been developed. We have optimized the cryopreservation of knee-isolated MSCs embedded within the aforementioned biomimetic scaffold, in order to create a reserve of young autologous embedded knee MSCs for future clinical applications. We have tested several cryoprotectant solutions combining dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), sucrose and human serum and quantifying the viability and functionality of the embedded MSCs after thawing. MSCs embedded in bioscaffolds cryopreserved with DMSO 10% or the combination of DMSO 10% and Sucrose 0,2 M displayed the best cell viabilities maintaining the multilineage differentiation potential of MSCs after thawing. In conclusion, embedded young MSCs within allogeneic biomimetic bioscaffold can be cryopreserved with the cryoprotectant solutions described in this work, allowing their future clinical use in patients with cartilage defects.