How to Handle Cells Shipped Internationally in Dry Ice? - (Feb/24/2011 )
Hi,
I was wondering if anyone has experience importing frozen immortal, EBV-transformed lymphoblastoid cell lines from another country. For discussion's sake lets assume the cells will have been in dry-ice for at least 20 hours by the time they reach my lab. My questions are: How do I handle the cells when I receive them? Can they be stored at -80C or -20C directly or will that kill them? Should I instead thaw them out and immediately culture them? At what stage of thaw will the cells be at after being in dry-ice for 20-24 hours, assuming they were stored in liquid nitrogen prior to being packed for shipping?
Thanks very much.
They can be stored at -80 for a while, as this is actually colder than dry ice. The cells will not be "Thawed" as such while on dry ice, but the may be some metabolic activity. Most people would thaw within 24 hours of receiving the cells.
bob1 on Fri Feb 25 23:45:42 2011 said:
They can be stored at -80 for a while, as this is actually colder than dry ice. The cells will not be "Thawed" as such while on dry ice, but the may be some metabolic activity. Most people would thaw within 24 hours of receiving the cells.
I see. I presume that if there is metabolic activity without actual culturing, the cells may actually start dying off if not attended to. THank you.