Freezing and storing of monkey and rabbit kidney cells for tissue cultures

Abstract

Summary Cercopithecus monkey kidney cells were more table if frozen from primary cultures than those from fresh trypsinizations when dimethyl sulfoxide in medium 199 was used as the additive. No such difference could be seen with rabbit kidney cells frozen in the same conditions. Rhesus monkey cells were less viable if frozen from primary cultures than those from fresh trypsinizations when glycerol in Eagle's basal medium was used as the additive. Cercopithecus monkey kidney cells showed a half-life of 5 months when stored in a mechanical freezer at −85°C. The longer the period of storing was, the less the number of cultures could be mitated and the later the confluency was reached in culture. The time during which these cells are kept in the fusion zone (0.5 to 40 min) of the freezing curve did not affect the viability of the cells.