Saving variables in .mat and reloading them in other Matlab session

Hi, here is my problem:

I have a main GUI that calls multiple sub-GUI where I enter different types of inputs in edittextbox. Each of these sub-GUI have a save button that save the information in a already existing .mat file as variables with the ''-append'' saving option. Then, the sub-GUI are cloesed. The main GUI needs the inputs to do some calculations. In a same matlab session, everything works fine but once you restart Matlab and load the inputs, all the edittextbox and popupmenu are set at the right position/value but the program does not recognized them, I need to re-enter them manually for it to work. Here is a simple exemple of what I am doing and the problem I get.

Send me an email to get the program as I don't know how to load it here. It is being revised to be put on the ''file exchange''.