Barshtein Gregory, Pajic-Lijakovic Ivana, Gural Alexander
Biochemistry Department, The Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
Front Physiol. 2021 Sep 22;12:722896. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2021.722896. eCollection 2021.
Red blood cells (RBCs) deformability refers to the cells' ability to adapt their shape to the dynamically changing flow conditions so as to minimize their resistance to flow. The high red cell deformability enables it to pass through small blood vessels and significantly determines erythrocyte survival. Under normal physiological states, the RBCs are attuned to allow for adequate blood flow. However, rigid erythrocytes can disrupt the perfusion of peripheral tissues and directly block microvessels. Therefore, RBC deformability has been recognized as a sensitive indicator of RBC functionality. The loss of deformability, which a change in the cell shape can cause, modification of cell membrane or a shift in cytosol composition, can occur due to various pathological conditions or as a part of normal RBC aging ( or ). However, despite extensive research, we still do not fully understand the processes leading to increased cell rigidity under cold storage conditions in a blood bank ( aging), In the present review, we discuss publications that examined the effect of RBCs' cold storage on their deformability and the biological mechanisms governing this change. We first discuss the change in the deformability of cells during their cold storage. After that, we consider storage-related alterations in RBCs features, which can lead to impaired cell deformation. Finally, we attempt to trace a causal relationship between the observed phenomena and offer recommendations for improving the functionality of stored cells.
红细胞（RBCs）的变形性是指细胞使其形状适应动态变化的流动条件以最小化其流动阻力的能力。高红细胞变形性使其能够通过小血管，并显著决定红细胞的存活。在正常生理状态下，红细胞能够适应以保证充足的血流。然而，僵硬的红细胞会扰乱外周组织的灌注并直接阻塞微血管。因此，红细胞变形性已被认为是红细胞功能的一个敏感指标。细胞形状的改变、细胞膜的修饰或胞质溶胶成分的变化都可能导致变形性丧失，这可能是由于各种病理状况或作为正常红细胞衰老的一部分（或 ）。然而，尽管进行了广泛的研究，我们仍然没有完全理解血库中冷藏条件下（衰老）导致细胞刚性增加的过程。在本综述中，我们讨论了研究红细胞冷藏对其变形性的影响以及控制这种变化的生物学机制的出版物。我们首先讨论细胞在冷藏期间变形性的变化。之后，我们考虑与储存相关的红细胞特征改变，这可能导致细胞变形受损。最后，我们试图追踪观察到的现象之间的因果关系，并为改善储存细胞的功能提供建议。
