Bioinspired Preservation of Natural Killer Cells for Cancer Immunotherapy

Abstract

The ability to cryopreserve natural killer (NK) cells has a significant potential in modern cancer immunotherapy. Current cryopreservation protocols cause deterioration in NK cell viability and functionality. This work reports the preservation of human cytokine‐activated NK cell viability and function following cryopreservation using a cocktail of biocompatible bioinspired cryoprotectants (i.e., dextran and carboxylated ε‐poly‐L‐lysine). Results demonstrate that the recovered NK cells after cryopreservation and rewarming maintain their viability immediately after thawing at a comparable level to control (dimethyl sulfoxide‐based cryopreservation). Although, their viability drops in the first day in culture compared to controls, the cells grow back to a comparable level to controls after 1 week in culture. In addition, the anti‐tumor functional activity of recovered NK cells demonstrates higher cytotoxic potency against leukemia cells compared to control. This approach presents a new direction for NK cell preservation, focusing on function and potentially enabling storage and distribution for cancer immunotherapy.