A versatile approach for temporary storage and shipping of in vitro cultured cells, cell sheets and tissue engineered constructs – a preliminary report

Temporary storage/ shipping of cell/ tissue engineering products from bench to bedside is a key aspect of regenerative medicine. The current proof-of-concept study presents a multipurpose device for temporary storage/ shipping of cell culture dishes containing cell/ tissue constructs. The device, made with readily available raw materials, contains three elements viz. a specialized lid, polymeric plates having grooves and a set of nuts and bolts. As part of the performance evaluation, the device was first subjected to a simulated storage/ shipping process, wherein the leak-proof and aseptic containment of the contents was demonstrated. Subsequently, the setup was used for temporary storage/ shipping of dishes having (a) L929 cell monolayers cultured on treated surfaces, (b) SIRC, HaCaT and A549 cell sheets cultured on thermo-responsive surfaces, (c) HOS-cell encapsulated agar gels and (d) HOS-cell seeded silk fibroin mats. The results showed that the health of cell monolayers/ cell sheets/ tissue constructs after the process was comparable to that before the process. The device was scalable, simple to handle, can be made for a single or multi-use purpose, and can be resizable to load other culture vessels. The design of the storage/ shipping device described in this report thus offers versatile features and applications.