Evaluating Cryopreservation Methods in Biobanking: Impacts on Biomarker Integrity and Omics Data Reliability

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Research
• Biobanking
• Personalized Medicine

Background:

• Personalized medicine relies on biobanks for high-quality biospecimens.
• Optimized protocols are crucial for sample integrity in biobanking.
• Evaluating long-term storage conditions is essential for reliable research data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of cryopreservation methods (cryovials vs. straws) on plasma and serum sample integrity.
• To compare the suitability of different storage methods for various analytical techniques.
• To provide insights for optimizing biobanking practices.

Main Methods:

• Plasma and serum samples were cryopreserved in liquid nitrogen using cryovials and straws.
• Samples underwent standard biochemical analysis, targeted lipidomics, untargeted proteomics, and targeted metabolomics.
• Mass spectrometry-based techniques were employed for omics analyses.

Main Results:

• Both cryovials and straws proved robust for standard laboratory analyses of plasma and serum.
• Lipidomic analysis showed minor lipid abundance disparities, mainly in fatty acids.
• Proteomic and metabolomic analyses revealed significant variations in a subset of analytes between storage methods.

Conclusions:

• Cryovials and straws are largely equivalent for robust, low-sensitivity analyses.
• Caution is advised when interpreting omics data from samples stored using different cryopreservation methods.
• Understanding storage method impact is key for reliable biospecimen data in research.