Viscoelastic phenotyping of red blood cells. 2024

Marta Gironella-Torrent, and Giulia Bergamaschi, and Raya Sorkin, and Gijs J L Wuite, and Felix Ritort
Small Biosystems Lab, Condensed Matter Physics Department, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Medical Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Institute of Biomedicine, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden. Electronic address: ritort@ub.edu.

Red blood cells (RBCs) are the simplest cell types with complex dynamical and viscoelastic phenomenology. While the mechanical rigidity and the flickering noise of RBCs have been extensively investigated, an accurate determination of the constitutive equations of the relaxational kinetics is lacking. Here we measure the force relaxation of RBCs under different types of tensional and compressive extension-jump protocols by attaching an optically trapped bead to the RBC membrane. Relaxational kinetics follows linear response from 60 pN (tensional) to -20 pN (compressive) applied forces, exhibiting a triple exponential function with three well-separated timescales over four decades (0.01-100 s). While the fast timescale (τF∼0.02(1)s) corresponds to the relaxation of the membrane, the intermediate and slow timescales (τI=4(1)s; τS=70(8)s) likely arise from the cortex dynamics and the cytosol viscosity. Relaxation is highly heterogeneous across the RBC population, yet the three relaxation times are correlated, showing dynamical scaling. Finally, we find that glucose depletion and laser illumination of RBCs lead to faster triple exponential kinetics and RBC rigidification. Viscoelastic phenotyping is a promising dynamical biomarker applicable to other cell types and active systems.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007700 Kinetics The rate dynamics in chemical or physical systems.
D008027 Light That portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the visible, ultraviolet, and infrared range. Light, Visible,Photoradiation,Radiation, Visible,Visible Radiation,Photoradiations,Radiations, Visible,Visible Light,Visible Radiations
D001809 Blood Viscosity The internal resistance of the BLOOD to shear forces. The in vitro measure of whole blood viscosity is of limited clinical utility because it bears little relationship to the actual viscosity within the circulation, but an increase in the viscosity of circulating blood can contribute to morbidity in patients suffering from disorders such as SICKLE CELL ANEMIA and POLYCYTHEMIA. Blood Viscosities,Viscosities, Blood,Viscosity, Blood
D004912 Erythrocytes Red blood cells. Mature erythrocytes are non-nucleated, biconcave disks containing HEMOGLOBIN whose function is to transport OXYGEN. Blood Cells, Red,Blood Corpuscles, Red,Red Blood Cells,Red Blood Corpuscles,Blood Cell, Red,Blood Corpuscle, Red,Erythrocyte,Red Blood Cell,Red Blood Corpuscle
D014783 Viscosity The resistance that a gaseous or liquid system offers to flow when it is subjected to shear stress. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed) Viscosities

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