Figure 3.

Cryopreservation of endobronchial biopsies allows subsequent derivation of epithelial cell cultures. (a) Comparison of success rates of epithelial cell outgrowth following cryopreservation. (b) Brightfield images showing epithelial cell outgrowths. Scale bars indicate 100 μm. (c) Cell counts after trypsinization of epithelial outgrowths from cryopreserved endobronchial biopsy/brushing samples after 14–17 days of culture [n = 6–8 biopsy samples within each condition (with a minimum of four donors sampled per group)]. (d) Immunofluorescence staining showing the presence of basal cells (cytokeratin 5; green) and multiciliated cells (acetylated α‐tubulin; red) in tracheospheres derived from a biopsy (top left), a biopsy digested before cryopreservation (top right), a biopsy digested after cryopreservation (bottom left) and a brushing (bottom right). DAPI (blue) was used as a counterstain. Scale bars indicate 20 μm