Intermittent scavenging of storage lesion from stored red blood cells by electrospun nanofibrous sheets enhances their quality and shelf-life

Transfusion of healthy red blood cells (RBCs) is a lifesaving process. However, upon storing RBCs, a wide range of damage-associate molecular patterns (DAMPs), such as cell-free DNA, nucleosomes, free-hemoglobin, and poly-unsaturated-fatty-acids are generated. DAMPs can further damage RBCs; thus, the quality of stored RBCs declines during the storage and limits their shelf-life. Since these DAMPs consist of either positive or negative charged species, we developed taurine and acridine containing electrospun-nanofibrous-sheets (Tau-AcrNFS), featuring anionic, cationic charges and an DNA intercalating group on their surfaces. We show that Tau-AcrNFS are efficient in scavenging DAMPs from stored human and mice RBCs ex vivo. We find that intermittent scavenging of DAMPs by Tau-AcrNFS during the storage reduces the loss of RBC membrane integrity and reduces discocytes-to-spheroechinocytes transformation in stored-old-RBCs. We perform RBC-transfusion studies in mice to reveal that intermittent removal of DAMPs enhances the quality of stored-old-RBCs equivalent to freshly collected RBCs, and increases their shelf-life by similar to 22%. Such prophylactic technology may lead to the development of novel blood bags or medical device, and may therefore impact healthcare by reducing transfusion-related adverse effects.

Automated summary

Transfusion of healthy red blood cells is vital for saving lives, but the storage of these cells can generate damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), which decrease the quality and shelf-life of stored red blood cells. Researchers have developed electrospun nanofibrous sheets containing taurine and acridine to scavenge DAMPs from stored red blood cells. Intermittent removal of DAMPs improves the membrane integrity and deformability of stored red blood cells. Transfusion studies in mice show that intermittent removal of DAMPs enhances the quality and extends the shelf-life of stored red blood cells by approximately 22%. This prophylactic technology has significant implications for reducing transfusion-related adverse effects.