Effects of storage time and temperature on highly multiparametric flow analysis of peripheral blood samples; implications for clinical trial samples

Amelia Jerram, Thomas V. Guy, Lucinda Beutler, Bavani Gunasegaran, Ronald Sluyter, Barbara Fazekas de St Groth, Helen M. McGuire

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

24 Citations (Scopus)
73 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

We sought to determine the effect of time and temperature of blood sample storage before preparation of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) by Ficoll-hypaque density gradient centrifugation. Blood samples from healthy donors were stored at room temperature (RT) or refrigerated at 4°C before preparation of PBMCs. Cell yield and viability, and proportions of major cell populations within PBMCs, as determined by fluorescence flow cytometry, were assessed for both fresh and cryopreserved samples. Highly multiparametric mass cytometry was performed on cryopreserved PBMCs. We found that refrigeration had marked negative effects on subsequent PBMC yield. Storage at RT led to co-purification of low density neutrophils with PBMCs, but had no detectable effects on the proportions of multiple cell subsets including, but not limited to, monocytes, NK cells, B cells, Treg cells, and naïve, central memory and effector memory CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and CD45RA-positive terminal effector CD8+ T cells. Expression of a number of cell surface receptors, including CXCR5, CCR6, CXCR3 and TIGIT, but not CD247 was reduced after RT storage before PBMC preparation, and this effect correlated with the degree of low density neutrophil contamination. As such, when PBMC preparation cannot be undertaken immediately after blood draw, storage at RT is far superior to refrigeration. RT storage leads to neutrophil activation, but does not compromise measurement of PBMC subset distribution. However caution must be applied to interpretation of cytometric measurements of surface molecules such as chemokine receptors.
Original languageEnglish
Article numberBSR20203827
Pages (from-to)1-15
Number of pages15
JournalBioscience Reports
Volume41
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 26 Feb 2021
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Copyright the Author(s) 2021. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Effects of storage time and temperature on highly multiparametric flow analysis of peripheral blood samples; implications for clinical trial samples'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this