Platelet Molecular Maturation Links Platelet Aging and the Platelet Storage Lesion
By integrating multiple high-quality RNA sequencing datasets with novel analytic approaches tailored to the biology of anucleate platelets, we show that platelet aging is not a passive process of transcript decay, but follows a structured and reproducible molecular trajectory both endogenously and in storage, which we term platelet molecular maturation.Storage temperature emerged as a dominant modifier of this trajectory, with cold-storage markedly slowing RNA metabolic kinetics and preserving transcripts associated with younger, more hemostatically competent platelets.Together, these findings provide mechanistic insight into the platelet storage lesion and identify transcriptomic features that may serve as biomarkers or therapeutic targets to extend platelet shelf life.
Authors
- Kimberly A. Thomas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8152-9974)
- Lucy Z. Kornblith (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1861-9691)
- Javonn Musgrove
- Alexander T. Fields (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9788-7848)
- Cedric M.V. Bainton
- Yale Santos
- Jeff Sall
- Susan Shea
- Katelin C. Rahn
- Nasima Mayer
- Karl Zoghbi
- Greg Chinn
- Danielle Williamson
Institutions
- San Francisco General Hospital (US)
- University of Pittsburgh (US)
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- Institute for Transfusion Medicine (US)
- Vitalant (US)
- Cellular Research (United States) (US)
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
- Published
- 2026-02-05
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.02.03.703379
- Primary Topic
- Platelet Disorders and Treatments
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- American College of Surgeons
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences