CELLBANKER® Cell Freezing Media

Cell freezing -80c
Protect your frozen cells and tissues with CELLBANKER®

The CELLBANKER® series of cell freezing media allows for the stable long-term storage of cells. With its unique formulation which enables stable cryopreservation and high viability after freeze-thaw procedures, CELLBANKER is a trusted solution for the storage of any cell type including sensitive cell lines.

Available in several formulations, this series of easy-to-use cell freezing media offers high cell viability in serum, serum-free, GMP and DMSO-free formats.

Benefits

Cited in over 1,700 scientific publications, the CELLBANKER® range is a trusted solution for the storage of any cell types.

 

Why Use the CELLBANKER® Range?

 

  • Long-term stability: proven to maintain cell integrity for >8 years at -80˚C or -196˚C
  • High cell viability: maintains >90% viability post thaw
  • Validated for a broad range of cell types: including primary cells and stem cells.
  • No need for a programmable freezer: no expensive, specialized freezing equipment needed
  • Ready-to-use formulation: Simplifies workflows with no need for further preparation
  • Matches your needs: Serum, serum-free and chemically defined formulations
  • Long shelf life: 3 years from manufacturing date

CELLBANKER® 1 Serum Containing Freezing Media

The first product of the CELLBANKER® series, CELLBANKER® 1, was launched in 1992 and now has a significant history of reliable, consistent and high viability recoveries post-cryopreservation. Contains serum, DMSO, glucose, salts and buffer.

NameDatasheetPacksize Order
CELLBANKER 1 (100ml) (formerly 11888)100 ml View
CELLBANKER 1 (20ml) (formerly 11889)20 ml View
CELLBANKER 1 (4 x 20 ml)4 x 20 ml View

CELLBANKER® 2 Serum-free Freezing Media

A serum free freezing medium that allows cell cryopreservation directly at -80°C without requiring a rate controlled freezer. Contains no animal-derived products and is guaranteed sterile.

NameDatasheetPacksize Order
CELLBANKER 2 (100ml) (formerly 11891)100 ml View
CELLBANKER 2 (20ml) (formerly 11892)20 ml View
CELLBANKER 2 (4 x 20 ml)4 x 20 ml View

Custom CELLBANKER®

Tailored cryopreservation storage solutions for cell therapy manufacturing

Introducing Custom CELLBANKER® from AMSBIO – the ideal GMP-grade cryopreservation solution for scaling up from research to manufacturing. Tailor the formulation, volume, and container type to your needs to ensure seamless integration into large-scale cell therapy product manufacturing and storage to match your workflow and regulatory requirements. Contact us to discuss your cryopreservation requirements and streamline your strategy with Custom CELLBANKER®.

Cryopreservation Procedure for Cultured Cells

CELLBANKER® solutions are simple to use. Achieve the highest cell viability whilst maintaining stem cell pluripotency, normal karyotype and proliferation ability after cryopreservation using CELLBANKER®.

  1. Examine and make sure the cell culture is free of contamination, in a healthy situation and proper confluency, etc. Perform a cell count to determine the viability of cells.
  2. Gently pellet the cells by centrifugation (3 - 5 minutes at 1,000~2,000rpm, 4oC). Remove the supernatant by using an aspirator.
  3. Gently suspend the cells with CELLBANKER® cell freezing media
  4. Dispense the cell suspension in aliquots to cryopreservation vials that have been labeled with the cell line name, cell concentration, passage date and other essential information.
  5. Place the vials directly in a -80°C freezer for storage. If necessary, transfer the frozen vials to a liquid nitrogen storage tank after the vials have been frozen for at least 24 hours.

**Optimum protocol may change with the cell types

Cryopreservation of Organoids

Organoids are 3D, organ-like structures derived in vitro via self-assembly of pluripotent stem cells or adult tissue stem cells. CELLBANKER® media has been validated for cryopreservation and recovery of whole organoids, with high viability rates. Clones with desired genetic characteristics (e.g. CRISPR/Cas9 edits) frozen in CELLBANKER® media have also been successfully thawed and grown into organoids.

STEM-CELLBANKER® is GMP compliant, for applications of organoids in regenerative medicine, disease modelling and drug discovery. For example, Dr. Kazuo Takayama at the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA) in Japan used STEM-CELLBANKER® to cryopreserve human bronchial organoids, as shown in Fig. 1 below.

Click here for customer testimony from the Clevers Lab, and click here to find out more about our organoid culture and storage solutions.

Freezing solutionSerum-freeAnimal-FreeGMP-CompliantDMSO-FreeExipient-ReadyValidated for use with organoids
CELLBANKER® 1NoNoNoNoYes1, 2
CELLBANKER® 2YesNoNoNoNoYes1, 3, 4
STEM-CELLBANKER® GMP GradeYesYesYesNoNoYes1, 5, 6
STEM-CELLBANKER® DMSO-free, GMP GradeYesYesYesYesNoNo
STEM-CELLBANKER®EX GMP Grade?YesYesNoYes?

Clevers lab (Hubrecht Institute, Netherlands) – Long term cryopreservation using CELLBANKER 1 of different types of organoids derived from cells of the airway and the thyroid to study associated diseases.

van der Vaart, J. et al. (2021), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(51), e2117017118.

Lamers, M. M. et al. (2021), The EMBO journal, 40(5), e105912.

van der Vaart, J. et al. (2021), EMBO reports, 22(12), e52058.

(J. van der Vaart, personal communication)

Mayhew Lab (Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, USA) – Cryopreservation of pellets of hPSC-derived mid-hindgut endoderm (MHE), subsequently aggregated into small intestinal organoids (HIOs).

Pitstick, A. L. et al. (2022). Stem Cell Reports, 17(8), 1889-1902.

CELLBANKER 2:

Vallier lab (Cambridge, UK) - Cryopreservation of cholangiocyte organoids.

Tysoe, O. C. et al. (2019). Nat Protoc, 14(6), 1884-1925.

Stuart Forbes (Centre for Regenerative Medicine, Institute for Regeneration and Repair, University of Edinburgh, UK) - Freezing primary liver cells from tissue samples and also the organoids they culture from these cells. 

Hallett, J. M. et al. (2022), Cell stem cell, 29(3), 355-371.e310

Knoblich lab (Vienna, Austria) - Archiving clones with desired genetic characteristics.

Bagley, J. A. et al. (2017), Nature Methods,  14(7), 743-751.
Bajaj, S. et al. (2021), The EMBO Journal, 40(23), e108714.

Joost Gribnau and Bas van Rijn (Erasmus University Medical Center, Netherlands) – Cryopreservation of Trophoblast Organoids.

Schäffers, OJM, et al. Organoids 1.2 (2022): 106-115.

STEM-CELLBANKER:

Takayama lab (CiRA, Japan) - Cryopreservation of SARS-CoV-2 model organoids.

Sano, E. et al. (2022), Communications Biology, 5(1), 516.

Allon Klein lab (Harvard, USA) - Cryopreservation of Intestinal organoids.

Tallapragada, N. P. et al. (2021), Cell Stem Cell, 28(9), 1516-1532.e1514.

Takenaka lab (Osaka International Cancer Institute, Japan) - Cryopreservation of Organoids from Human Epithelioid Sarcoma. 

Wakamatsu, T. et al. (2022), Front Oncol, 12, 893592.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which types of cell lines can be cryopreserved with CELLBANKER®?

Almost all the cell lines can be cryopreserved by CELLBANKER®. View our list of cell types tested with CELLBANKER® and STEM-CELLBANKER® for more details.

What is the difference between CELLBANKER®1, and 2?

CELLBANKER® 1 contains serum, whereas CELLBANKER® 2 is a serum and protein-free type of medium.

What kind of serum is used? Which country does the serum originate from?

New Born Calf Serum (NBS) is principally used and its origin is in Australia or New Zealand.

Why is programming freezing not needed for CELLBANKER® cryopreservation?

CELLBANKER® is formulated only for deep-freezer rapid freezing use at approximately -85℃. Freezing procedures by programming freezer or liquid nitrogen may deteriorate the cell viability. Storage of cells in a liquid nitrogen tank is recommended only after a sufficient freeze by deep freezer.

Tell me more about the components? Is dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) included?

Unfortunately, the components of CELLBANKER® are not available to release at this time. DMSO is used as a frozen protectant in the product. However, DMSO rarely has any effects on the cryopreservation. It is recommended to thoroughly wash your cells after thawing to remove any remaining DMSO.

Can I preserve my normal cells , lymphocytes or stem cells with CELLBANKER®?

There are some types of cells that are not suitable to be preserved with CELLBANKER®. Therefore, an initial test prior to the actual freezing is recommended.

How can I store CELLBANKER®?

Generally, CELLBANKER® is recommended to be kept at 4℃ and should be completely used as soon as possible. If storing for 3 months or longer, separate into aliquot and keep it frozen (-20℃). To prevent from deterioration of the product, frequent freeze-thaw method (more than 3 times) should be avoided.

Is CELLBANKER® a medicinal product?

CELLBANKER® is for research use only. Therefore, it is prohibited to be use in medical practice.

Featured Citations

Derivation of enteric neuron lineages from human pluripotent stem cells.
Barber K et al. (2019)  Nature Protocols. Volume 14, 1261–1279

Establishment and Culture of Patient-Derived Primary Medulloblastoma Cell Lines.
Badodi S et al. (2019)  Methods Mol Biol. Volume 8, 2019 - Issue 3

Effect of cryopreservation on the appearance and liver function of hepatocyte-like cells in cultures of cirrhotic liver of biliary atresia.
Yamazaki T et al. (2018)  In Vitro Cell Dev Biol Anim. Volume 54, Issue 6, pp 401–405

Exosomes derived from clinical-grade oral mucosal epithelial cell sheets promote wound healing.
Sjöqvist Set al. (2018) Journal of Extracellular Vesicles Volume 8, 2019 - Issue 1

mRNA vaccine-elicited antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 and circulating variants

Wang Z et al. (2021) Nature. 592, pages616–622

CELLBANKER 1:

Clevers lab (Hubrecht Institute, Netherlands) – Long term cryopreservation using CELLBANKER 1 of different types of organoids derived from cells of the airway and the thyroid to study associated diseases.

van der Vaart, J. et al. (2021), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(51), e2117017118.

Lamers, M. M. et al. (2021), The EMBO journal, 40(5), e105912.

van der Vaart, J. et al. (2021), EMBO reports, 22(12), e52058.

(J. van der Vaart, personal communication)

Mayhew Lab (Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, USA) – Cryopreservation of pellets of hPSC-derived mid-hindgut endoderm (MHE), subsequently aggregated into small intestinal organoids (HIOs).
Pitstick, A. L. et al. (2022). Stem Cell Reports, 17(8), 1889-1902. 

CELLBANKER 2:

Vallier lab (Cambridge, UK) - Cryopreservation of cholangiocyte organoids.
Tysoe, O. C. et al. (2019). Nat Protoc, 14(6), 1884-1925.

Stuart Forbes (Centre for Regenerative Medicine, Institute for Regeneration and Repair, University of Edinburgh, UK) - Freezing primary liver cells from tissue samples and also the organoids they culture from these cells. 
Hallett, J. M. et al. (2022), Cell stem cell, 29(3), 355-371.e310

Knoblich lab (Vienna, Austria) - Archiving clones with desired genetic characteristics.
Bagley, J. A. et al. (2017), Nature Methods,  14(7), 743-751.
Bajaj, S. et al. (2021), The EMBO Journal, 40(23), e108714.

STEM-CELLBANKER:

Takayama lab (CiRA, Japan) - Cryopreservation of SARS-CoV-2 model organoids.
Sano, E. et al. (2022), Communications Biology, 5(1), 516.

Allon Klein lab (Harvard, USA) - Cryopreservation of Intestinal organoids. 
Tallapragada, N. P. et al. (2021), Cell Stem Cell, 28(9), 1516-1532.e1514.

Takenaka lab (Osaka International Cancer Institute, Japan) - Cryopreservation of Organoids from Human Epithelioid Sarcoma. 
Wakamatsu, T. et al. (2022), Front Oncol, 12, 893592.