Short-Term Stability of Growth Factors in Umbilical Cord Blood Platelet Lysate: Implications for Corneal Cell Culture and Regenerative Applications

Short-Term Stability of Growth Factors in Umbilical Cord Blood Platelet Lysate: Implications for Corneal Cell Culture and Regenerative Applications | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Short-Term Stability of Growth Factors in Umbilical Cord Blood Platelet Lysate: Implications for Corneal Cell Culture and Regenerative Applications Ivana Vidović, Marta Himelreich-Perić, Branka Golubić Ćepulić, and 5 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9438093/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 4 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Purpose Platelets are a major source of growth factors essential for hemostasis, angiogenesis, and tissue regeneration, including in the human cornea. This study evaluated the stability of key growth factors in umbilical cord blood–derived platelet lysate (UCB-PL) during six months of storage at −20 °C to assess its suitability for corneal cell culture and regenerative applications. Methods UCB-PL was prepared from ten umbilical cord blood units unsuitable for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Concentrations of TGF-β, PDGF-BB, EGF, VEGF-A, VEGF-D, BDNF, and HGF were measured immediately after preparation and after 3 and 6 months of storage at −20 °C using a microsphere-based assay performed on a Luminex 200 fluoroanalyzer. Results Most growth factors involved in corneal repair, including BDNF, EGF, HGF, VEGF-A, VEGF-D, and PDGF-BB, remained stable during short-term storage, with peak concentrations observed after three months. In contrast, TGF-β levels declined significantly over time and fell below the detection limit after six months of storage. These findings indicate that storage at −20 °C preserves the biological activity of most growth factors for up to three months, whereas prolonged storage adversely affects less stable proteins. Conclusion UCB-PL maintains biologically relevant levels of key growth factors and represents a promising animal-free supplement for corneal cell culture, regenerative therapies, and wound-healing applications. Short-term storage at −20 °C is recommended to ensure optimal growth factor stability and bioactivity for tissue banking and clinical use. umbilical cord blood platelet lysate corneal regeneration growth factor stability tissue banking Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Tables are available in the Supplementary Files section. Supplementary Files Table1.docx Table2.docx Table3.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers invited by journal 05 May, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 17 Apr, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 17 Apr, 2026 First submitted to journal 16 Apr, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9438093","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":635520022,"identity":"85a6864d-1f2f-4a26-8136-3d4223334380","order_by":0,"name":"Ivana 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This study evaluated the stability of key growth factors in umbilical cord blood–derived platelet lysate (UCB-PL) during six months of storage at −20 °C to assess its suitability for corneal cell culture and regenerative applications.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMethods UCB-PL was prepared from ten umbilical cord blood units unsuitable for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Concentrations of TGF-β, PDGF-BB, EGF, VEGF-A, VEGF-D, BDNF, and HGF were measured immediately after preparation and after 3 and 6 months of storage at −20 °C using a microsphere-based assay performed on a Luminex 200 fluoroanalyzer.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eResults Most growth factors involved in corneal repair, including BDNF, EGF, HGF, VEGF-A, VEGF-D, and PDGF-BB, remained stable during short-term storage, with peak concentrations observed after three months. In contrast, TGF-β levels declined significantly over time and fell below the detection limit after six months of storage. These findings indicate that storage at −20 °C preserves the biological activity of most growth factors for up to three months, whereas prolonged storage adversely affects less stable proteins.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eConclusion UCB-PL maintains biologically relevant levels of key growth factors and represents a promising animal-free supplement for corneal cell culture, regenerative therapies, and wound-healing applications. Short-term storage at −20 °C is recommended to ensure optimal growth factor stability and bioactivity for tissue banking and clinical use.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Short-Term Stability of Growth Factors in Umbilical Cord Blood Platelet Lysate: Implications for Corneal Cell Culture and Regenerative Applications","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-05-13 10:07:11","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9438093/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-05-05T21:04:15+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2026-04-17T12:49:57+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2026-04-17T12:49:19+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Cell and Tissue Banking","date":"2026-04-16T12:06:09+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"cell-and-tissue-banking","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"catb","sideBox":"Learn more about [Cell and Tissue Banking](http://link.springer.com/journal/10561)","snPcode":"10561","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/10561/3","title":"Cell and Tissue Banking","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"55e06697-caa7-4610-8a5c-9150ccd0d1be","owner":[],"postedDate":"May 13th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"6","date":"2026-05-05T21:04:15+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-13T10:07:11+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-05-13 10:07:11","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-9438093","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-9438093","identity":"rs-9438093","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}