From pH to MALDI-TOF: hundreds of spotted opportunities?

Current protocols for quality assurance of platelet concentrates used in transfusion therapy include evaluation of platelet count and pH, in vitro measurements of platelet lysis, membrane activation and microparticle release and assays of platelet ability to respond to aggregation stimuli and to hypotonic shock. Unfortunately, these assays show limited correlation to post-transfusion platelet survival and recovery in the recipient. This requires validation of platelet collection and storage systems with expensive and time consuming autologous transfusion studies in healthy volunteers with radiolabeled platelets. Furthermore, platelets from some donors show increased lesion during storage for reasons that are incompletely understood. This editorial discusses recent strides in proteomic technology which open interesting perspectives for improving current procedures for quality assurance of platelet concentrates and increasing the safety and effectiveness of platelet transfusion in medical and surgical conditions. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Integrated omics.