Background: Recent studies using a time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay method (dissociation-enhanced lanthanide fluoroimmunoassay) showed that platelets and plasma are the main reservoir of the normal isoform of cell-associated prion protein (PrPc) in human blood. The aims of the present study were to monitor PrPc levels in various fractions of apheresis platelets during storage by using the DELFIA method and to assess the association of this release with alpha-granule protein ss-thrombo-globulin and cytoplasmic LDH.
Study design and methods: Units of apheresis platelets (n = 6) were obtained from volunteer donors by the use of a cell separator and stored up to 10 days. Samples (7-9 mL) were aseptically collected from each unit on storage Days 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, and 10. Platelet-poor plasma and apheresis platelets were prepared and the former split into two fractions, one centrifuged at 40,000 x g for 2 hours at 4 degrees C to remove microparticles. The spun microparticles, apheresis platelets and platelet samples, platelet-poor plasma, and high-spun plasma fractions were stored in a frozen state until they were tested.
Results: The results showed that the mean overall levels of PrPc throughout storage remained within 15 percent of Day 1 levels. In contrast, the mean cellular levels in platelets significantly decreased to 46 percent of Day 1 levels by Day 10 of storage (p<0.01), while the corresponding levels in plasma significantly rose as much as 329 percent (p<0.01). Moreover, although microparticle-bound PrPc was released during storage, it was increasingly superseded by soluble protein. PrPc and ss-thrombo-globulin release exhibited very similar patterns (p<0.01). In contrast, LDH showed a significant increase in high-spun plasma only toward the end of the storage period (p<0.01).
Conclusion: These results indicate that PrPc is released from platelets during the storage of apheresis platelets and that this release is probably due mainly to platelet activation and alpha-granule release in the first few days of storage. Moreover, the released PrPc is increasingly composed of soluble proteins, as the storage period exceeds 5 days.