How to Preserve Blood Sample Integrity for Proteomic Analysis

Blood is a complex mixture of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets suspended in fluid containing coagulation factors and other proteins, known as plasma. Because this biofluid comes into contact with most tissues, researchers can use blood for proteomics-based biomarker discovery and validation, where they have already detected protein biomarkers for diseases including cancer and cardiovascular disease.^1,2 

         

In the absence of stabilization, blood cells undergo ex vivo degradation and/or activation over time, which can hinder downstream analysis.³ Additionally, differences in the preanalytical procedure, such as the collection tubes employed, the time elapsed between drawing and processing, and the blood sample storage temperature, can cause changes in the sample’s proteomic landscape.^4,5 As a result, researchers must process these samples as quickly as possible to ensure accurate analysis.

To reduce the preanalytical variability, scientists can collect whole blood samples within evacuated blood collection tubes (BCTs), such as the Protein Plus BCT™, which stabilizes the samples prior to processing. This collection tube maintains the draw-time concentrations of plasma proteins at ambient temperatures for up to five days after blood draw, depending on the protein, by reducing platelet activation, hemolysis, and the release of contaminating blood cell proteins. Consequently, blood samples collected and stored in these tubes better represent the blood found in circulation, which results in more accurate proteomic analysis.

Read more about stabilizing proteins in whole blood samples.