Taurine Supports Preservation of Proendocrine Cell Types in Human Umbilical Cord Blood-Derived Mononuclear Cells During Cryostorage

Abstract

Background We demonstrated earlier that a subset of human umbilical cord-blood (hUCB)-derived mononuclear cells (MNCs) express proendocrine transcription factors and exhibit potential to differentiate into endocrine pancreatic lineage. The growing interest in the use of MNCs for diabetes has promoted cryopreservation of these cells for future use in translational research. Development of optimal cryopreservation media is critical to the success of translational research. Methods We explored protective effects of taurine in cryopreservation of hUCB-derived MNCs. MNCs were isolated using Histopaque and 3 million viable cells were cryofrozen using 10% dimethyl sulfoxide (v/v) in fetal bovine serum or supplemented with taurine (0.3/3.0 mmol/L). Cryopreservation conditions were assessed based on their viability, growth, and ability to retain endocrine pancreatic transcription factor expressing cells. Results UCB-derived MNCs adhered and grew as mesenchymal-like cells in culture following revival from various cryopreservation conditions. Interestingly, MNCs expressed threefold more ngn3, 2-fold more nkx6.1, and 15-fold more isl1 transcripts in taurine-supplemented cryo-medium compared to the conventional cryomix. Conclusion The present study demonstrates that taurine supplementation to cryopreservation media improved retention of endocrine pancreatic transcription factor-expressing MNCs.