Rad S, Neu B
Division of Bioengineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
Eur Phys J E Soft Matter. 2009 Oct;30(2):135-40. doi: 10.1140/epje/i2009-10499-1.
The reversible aggregation of human red blood cells (RBC) by proteins or polymers continues to be of biological and biophysical interest, yet the mechanistic details governing this process are still being explored. In this report an approach is described to compute the interaction energy between RBC by considering cellular properties as well as polymer properties. Cell-cell affinities were calculated as functions of glycocalyx thickness and glycocalyx volume concentration as well as bulk polymer concentration. Our theoretical predictions show that cell-cell affinities do not monotonically increase with polymer size and concentration, but rather demonstrate an optimum dextran molecular mass and concentration which depends on cellular properties of RBC. These results show qualitative agreement with recent experimental observations. In conclusion, our model not only confirms the concept of a depletion mechanism for RBC aggregation but also provides new insights which should help understanding how cellular properties control in vivo RBC interactions.
蛋白质或聚合物引起的人类红细胞（RBC）可逆聚集一直是生物学和生物物理学关注的焦点，然而，控制这一过程的机制细节仍在探索之中。在本报告中，我们描述了一种通过考虑细胞特性和聚合物特性来计算红细胞之间相互作用能的方法。细胞间亲和力作为糖萼厚度、糖萼体积浓度以及聚合物本体浓度的函数进行计算。我们的理论预测表明，细胞间亲和力并非随聚合物大小和浓度单调增加，而是呈现出一个最佳的葡聚糖分子量和浓度，这取决于红细胞的细胞特性。这些结果与最近的实验观察结果在定性上一致。总之，我们的模型不仅证实了红细胞聚集的耗尽机制概念，还提供了新的见解，有助于理解细胞特性如何控制体内红细胞的相互作用。
