3. Cell damage caused by freezing and dehydration

3.1 Effects of temperature reduction

The deleterious effects on cells of temperature variation in hypothermic preservation (change from physiological temperature to positive low temperatures) are low. In fact, this temperature variation does not alter cell structure.

It is during the long-term preservation phase, when cellular degradation reactions can still take place at slow speeds, that cell alterations appear. The main effects on cells during cryopreservation (ultra-low temperature with cell solidification) are linked to both the drop in temperature and the change in water state that occurs when samples are cooled to ultra-low temperatures.

Decreasing the temperature to extremely low levels produces, in particular, phase transition...