We are looking at collecting blood to assess resting glucose levels. However, with several animals going through terminal procedures, what is the best way to store collected blood? (Ice, dry ice); in addition, are centrifuge tubes sufficient for this storage?
We are looking at utilizing whole blood for ELISA methods, looking at proteins important for insulin, stress, etc.
In my experience, whole blood can be stored on ice for a few hours without compromising downstream elisas (the most I've gone is 3 hours).
Flush the collection syringe with heparin or 3.8% sodium citrate solution prior to collecting blood to prevent coagulation, and store on ice.
Also, yes, I stored it in standard 1.5mL epi tubes.
You can store the whole blood in ice bag for just several hours, but you can get the serum and store it in deep freeze for several days.
I wouldn't store blood but I would go for serum instead. I have used eppis with EDTA for that reason and you can store it for quite a time at -80oC. I would also suggest to create aliquots, so you can use each aliquot for one or two protein assays max (avoid freezing-defrosting cycles).