There is increasing interest in developing new macromolecular cryoprotectants to improve cryopreservation outcomes, however, the criteria used for assessing cryopreservation success varies greatly between studies. In this work we critically analysed the impact of different macromolecular cryoprotectants on post-thaw cell viability and cell recovery, at multiple timepoints, for several cell lines. We found that cell viability was not a good predictor of cryopreservation outcome as it overlooked the number of cells lost during the cryopreservation process. In addition, we showed that it is essential to culture the cells for a period after thawing to allow apoptosis (programmed cell death) to initiate and complete. Considering these findings, we demonstrated that polyampholytes (an emerging class of macromolecular cryoprotectant) are effective cryoprotectants that improve both cell viability and cell recovery, compared to poly(ethylene glycol) which can produce in false positive results.

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Post-Thaw Culture and Measurement of Total Cell Recovery Is Crucial in the Evaluation of New Macromolecular Cryoprotectants