It is widely recognized that successful proliferation of mammalian cells requires a complex of growth factors. When culturing cells in vitro, the standard supplement is fetal bovine serum (FBS). However, numerous studies demonstrate that human platelet lysate (hPL) has comparable efficacy in stimulating cell proliferation. Platelets contain protein- and growth factor-rich granules whose secretion promotes wound healing and tumor growth. Here, we investigated the effect of hPL on the proliferation of mammalian cells. The study employed standard culture methods for adherent human cell lines HEK293, MCF-7, SiHa, Ea.hy926, SH-SY5Y, OKP-GS, suspension human cell line K562, and adherent mouse cell lines EMT-6 and B16-F10. As a culture medium supplement, FBS was compared with hPL derived from a pool of human platelet concentrates from 10 healthy donors. hPL represents a solution obtained by the triple freeze-thaw technique from a pooled platelet concentrate, followed by filtration and addition of 0.1 U/mL heparin. Cell viability and proliferation were assessed by flow cytometry and the MTT assay. Cell morphology was analyzed using phase contrast microscopy. hPL, comparably to FBS, stimulated the growth of almost all cultures under study, except for the human endothelial line Ea.hy926, for which ambiguous results were obtained. Almost all adherent cell lines demonstrated a fibroblast-like growth characterized by reduced cell–cell contacts. The most significant differences in morphology were observed in SH-SY5Y and Ea.hy926 cell lines, which became prone to forming long axons. Thus, platelet lysate successfully supports mammalian cell proliferation; however, it also affects cell morphology, preventing the formation of an epithelial-like monolayer.
Kolesnikova et al. (Sun,) studied this question.