Platelets are a critical component of blood clotting, but they have a short shelf life compared to whole blood. While whole blood can be refrigerated for up to a month, platelets only last about a week. Ashley Brown, an associate professor at North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has developed artificial platelets that could be stored for longer periods to address the shortage of platelets.
In a recent publication in Science Translational Medicine, Brown and her team describe how their synthetic platelets were able to stop bleeding and promote healing in rodents and pigs. Natural platelets are essential for preventing or stopping bleeding by forming clots, but there is often a need for additional platelets in cases of traumatic injuries, cancer, and certain chronic conditions.
Typically, platelets are collected through a process called apheresis, but their limited shelf life means they are not always readily available in rural hospitals or easily transportable. Brown’s goal is to create an alternative that can be stored and shipped easily and given to patients quickly, regardless of blood type.
The synthetic platelets created by Brown and her team mimic the size, mechanics, and shape of natural platelets using a hydrogel to form nanoparticles. These nanoparticles are designed to bind to fibrin, a protein that helps platelets form clots, allowing the artificial platelets to promote clotting and accelerate healing at the site of injury.
Research on mice, rats, and pigs showed that the synthetic platelets were effective in stopping bleeding and promoting healing, with similar results to natural platelets but requiring only a fraction of the dosage. Brown attributes this efficiency to the specific mechanism of action of the synthetic platelets in binding to fibrin, and notes that variability in the preparation of natural platelets may have influenced the comparison.
