(Bidiphar, Vietnam) and transferred to a cell processing center. UC-MSCs were
isolated under xeno-free and serum-free conditions as described previously12 (link)
. Briefly, the cord was washed in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) and 70%
alcohol and then cut into small pieces. The mixture was digested in 500 U/ml
collagenase (Gibco, Grand Island, NY, USA) at 37°C using a GentleMACS
Dissociator (Miltenyi, Germany). Cells were filtered and suspended in PowerStem
MSC1 Medium (PAN Biotech, Germany) (donor 1) or StemMACS™ MSC Expansion Media XF
(Miltenyi, Germany) (donor 2) supplemented with 100 U/ml Pen/Strep (Life
Technologies, USA). They were seeded in treated cell culture flasks (NUNC Thermo
Scientific, Rochester, NY, USA), coated with CellStart™ substrate (Thermo Fisher
Scientific, Grand Island, NY, USA) and cultured at 37°C under 5% CO2.
The cells were harvested once they reached 80% confluency. The cells were
passaged for subsequent culture at a cell density of 4,000 cells/cm2and quality characterization or cryopreserved in CryoStor® CS10 (Stem Cell
Technology, Canada) in the gas phase of liquid nitrogen in an automated Brooks
System (Brooks Life Science, Chelmsford, MA, USA) to maintain the temperature at
–196°C.