Figure 1

Outgrowth and viability of human umbilical cord artery derived cells (HUCAC). A) HUCAC isolated by mechanical excision grew out of single cord artery pieces (explant culture) after approximately 21 days and demonstrated robust spindle-shaped morphology in primary cultures (passage 0). Cells from primary cultures were used for further cryopreservation studies. Viability of short-term (group A, n = 5) and long-term (group B, n = 4) cryopreserved cells from primary cultures (passage 0) was studied directly after B) thawing and C) in passage 1 of recultivation using trypan blue staining assay. By comparison, non-cryopreserved fresh cells (n = 5) from primary cultures and passage 1 were analyzed in parallel as control group. The number of viable cells divided by the number of total cells results in cell viability (%).