, 2005). The ability to store samples for periods of months or years without loss of viability and functionality is crucial for many clinical and research studies. Blood samples collected during the evolution of a disease help to understand http://www.selleckchem.com/products/nutlin-3a.html the development of different viral variants and disease patterns. Another aim of this study was to compare the effects of short- and long-term cryopreservation in the different serum- and protein-free media on the viability and functionality of the PBMC in context of the HIV Specimen Cryorepository (hsc; www.hsc-csf.org). Samples were analyzed after

some weeks of storage and again after several months. Accurate quantification of the cellular immune response is important in such studies because the T-cell functionality is a key issue in vaccine research,

as it plays an essential role in the control of viral replication (Borrow et al., 1994, Rosenberg et al., 1997, Altfeld et al., 2001 and McMichael and Rowland-Jones, 2001). To guarantee an exact evaluation http://www.selleckchem.com/products/dabrafenib-gsk2118436.html of the results, automated trypan blue exclusion and interferon-γ ELISpot (Enzyme Linked Immuno Spot Technique) were used for measuring the viability, recovery, and functionality of PBMC after cryopreservation. In summary, we investigated the effects of short- and long-term storage in serum- or even completely protein-free cryopreservation media on the viability and functionality of PBMC, also with regard to a possible reduction of the necessary DMSO concentration. As 6 month cryopreservation is quite short for long-term results, it is planned to validate the results in this paper with already frozen samples after storage for longer than one year. However, the results shown in this paper give enough evidence to be taken into account for upcoming studies. Citrated blood samples of 13 healthy, CMV seropositive donors were obtained Tau-protein kinase from the blood donor center Saarbruecken with informed consent. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were isolated by density gradient centrifugation over lymphocyte separation medium (PAA, Cölbe). The buffy coat layers were collected

and washed with PBS (Gibco, Karlsruhe). Contaminating red blood cells were lysed using Pharm Lyse (BD, Heidelberg) by incubating 2 × 108 cells in 20 ml of 1/10 diluted Pharm Lyse in distilled water (B. Braun, Melsungen) for 30 min in the dark. Reaction was stopped by adding 30 ml of PBS with 1% pretested FBS (PAA, Cölbe). Five different cryomedia were used for freezing freshly isolated PBMC: a) GHRC-CryoMedium I contained 12.5% BSA fraction V in RPMI 1640 (PAA, Cölbe) supplemented with 10% DMSO, as already described (Germann et al., 2011). The GHRC-CryoMedia consisted of two solutions. Solution A contained no DMSO, solution B was supplemented with 20% DMSO (Sigma-Aldrich, Taufkirchen). All cryomedia were freshly prepared and chilled at 4 °C.