The aim of this study was to optimize strategy for ex vivo short-term storage of human cord blood and bone marrow haematopoietic cells. We report that the presence of air in the vials (1/2of their volume), in which hematopoietic cells are stored, improves the survival of clonogenic progenitors. We observed that presence of air prevented a rapid decrease in the pH of storage medium. Similarly, a beneficial effect on cell survival and recovery also had an addition of Deoxyribonuclease I (DNase I).We observed that DNase I efficiently prevented cell clumping, and moreover, did not affect the clonogenecity of the haematopoietic progenitors. Therefore containers, in which haematopoietic cells are stored, should contain enough air (source of oxygen) and the storage medium itself should be supplemented with DNase I.

Keywords: Oxygen, Deoxyribonuclease I, haematopoietic progenitors