title: Loading red blood cells with trehalose: a step towards biostabilization.
abstract: A method for freeze-drying red blood cells (RBCs) while maintaining a high degree of viability has important implications in blood transfusion and clinical medicine. The disaccharide trehalose, found in animals capable of surviving dehydration can aid in this process. As a first step toward RBC preservation, we present a method for loading RBCs with trehalose. The method is based on the thermal properties of the RBC plasma membranes and provides efficient uptake of the sugar at 37 degrees C in a time span of 7 h. The data show that RBCs can be loaded with trehalose from the extracellular medium through a combination of osmotic imbalance and the phospholipid phase transition, resulting in intracellular trehalose concentrations of about 40 mM. During the loading period, the levels of ATP and 2,3-DPG are maintained close to the levels of fresh RBCs. Increasing the membrane fluidity through the use of a benzyl alcohol results in a higher concentration of intracellular trehalose, suggesting the importance of the membrane physical state for the uptake of the sugar. Osmotic fragility data show that trehalose exerts osmotic protection on RBCs. Flow cytometry data demonstrate that incubation of RBCs in a hypertonic trehalose solution results in a fraction of cells with different complexity and that it can be removed by washing and resuspending the RBCs in an iso-osmotic medium. The data provide an important first step in long-term preservation of RBCs.
authors.affiliation: Center for Biostabilization, University of California Davis, CA 95616, USA.
authors.forename: Gyana R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Satpathy
authors.forename: Zsolt
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Török
authors.forename: Rachna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bali
authors.forename: Denis M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Dwyre
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Little
authors.forename: Naomi J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: Fern
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tablin
authors.forename: John H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Crowe
authors.forename: Nelly M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Tsvetkova
mesh_terms: D019905:Benzyl Alcohol / Q000494:pharmacology; D001693:Biological Transport, Active / Q000187:drug effects; D001793:Blood Preservation / Q000379:methods*; D015925:Cryopreservation / Q000379:methods*; D003451:Cryoprotective Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000378:metabolism; D004910:Erythrocyte Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D009996:Osmotic Fragility; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors; D014199:Trehalose / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D003451:Cryoprotective Agents; D014199:Trehalose; D019905:Benzyl Alcohol