Exploring tricine as a novel red cell cryopreservative: Lessons and future directions

Area of Science:

• Biochemistry
• Cell Biology
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Cryopreservation extends red blood cell (RBC) storage beyond 35 days.
• Current glycerol methods are labor-intensive and limited in scalability.
• Tricine shows potential as an alternative cryoprotective agent (CPA).

Purpose of the Study:

• Evaluate tricine's biocompatibility and efficacy in human RBC cryopreservation.
• Compare tricine's performance in human versus sheep RBCs.
• Investigate species-specific factors influencing CPA effectiveness.

Main Methods:

• Assessed RBC biocompatibility via 24-h incubation at 4°C.
• Evaluated cryoprotective efficacy after freezing in liquid nitrogen and thawing.
• Measured RBC recovery using spectrophotometric estimation of hemolysis.

Main Results:

• Tricine demonstrated <1% hemolysis, indicating good biocompatibility in both human and sheep RBCs.
• Tricine effectively protected sheep RBCs, with maximal recovery at 8.0% w/v.
• Tricine failed to preserve human RBCs, yielding low post-thaw recovery rates comparable to unprotected freezing.

Conclusions:

• Tricine is not an effective CPA for human RBCs, despite success in sheep.
• Significant species differences in RBC physiology, potentially related to hemoglobin hydrophilicity, impact cryopreservation outcomes.
• Careful selection of animal models is crucial for cryopreservation research.