title: Development of a cell sheet transportation technique for regenerative medicine.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A transportation technique for cell sheets is necessary to standardize regenerative medicine. The aim of this article is to develop and evaluate a new transportation technique for cell sheets.
  
  
  METHODS
  We developed a transportation container with three basic functions: the maintenance of interior temperature, air pressure, and sterility. The interior temperature and air pressure were monitored by a recorder. Human oral mucosal epithelial cells obtained from two healthy volunteers were cultured on temperature-responsive culture dishes. The epithelial cell sheets were transported via an airplane between the Osaka University and Tohoku University using the developed cell transportation container. Histological and immunohistochemical analyses and flow cytometric analyses for cell viability and cell purity were performed for the cell sheets before and 12 h after transportation to assess the influence of transportation on the cell sheets. Sterility tests and screening for endotoxin and mycoplasma in the cell sheets were performed before and after transportation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During transportation via an airplane, the temperature inside the container was maintained above 32°C, and the changes in air pressure remained within 10 hPa. The cell sheets were well stratified and successfully harvested before and after transportation. The expression patterns of keratin 3/76, p63, and MUC16 were equivalent before and after transportation. However, the expression of ZO-1 in the cell sheet after transportation was slightly weaker than that before transportation. The cell viability was 72.0% before transportation and 77.3% after transportation. The epithelial purity was 94.6% before transportation and 87.9% after transportation. Sterility tests and screening for endotoxin and mycoplasma were negative for all cell sheets.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The newly developed transportation technique for air travel is essential technology for regenerative medicine and promotes the standardization and spread of regenerative therapies.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Ophthalmology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine , Osaka, Japan .
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Oie
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nozaki
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takayanagi
authors.forename: Susumu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hara
authors.forename: Ryuhei
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: Shizu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.forename: Noboru
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Moriya
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Soma
authors.forename: Motokazu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tsujikawa
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Kohji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nishida
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000166:cytology; D011312:Pressure; D011817:Rabbits; D044968:Regenerative Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013242:Sterilization; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors; D023822:Tissue Engineering; D014186:Transportation
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