Progressos e perspectivas da criopreservação da pele de mamíferos como estratégia de conservação da biodiversidade. Uma Revisão

Abstract

The cryopreservation of skin is an interesting tool for the conservation of animal biodiversity. In this context, different protocols have been employed and methodological adjustments, especially on the type and the concentration of the cryoprotectants, are constantly being developed for both domestic and wild mammals. Although both methods of cryopreservation, freezing and vitrification, have been used for tissue preservation, the latter is the most common. Moreover, analysis methods for the investigation of technical efficiency are required to ensure that the cryopreserved skin will maintain their viable characteristics after warming. In general, the cryopreservation allows proper storage both during transport to the processing in the laboratory as in long time in order to cryobank formation. The somatic cells recovered these tissues can also be used also for physiology studies of the species, cell differentiation and reprogramming, reproductive and therapeutic cloning. Therefore, the present review aims to present the technical aspects of cryopreservation of skin, with emphasis on the efficiency of methods employed in mammals and its application in reproductive biotechnologies.