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Nano-Mechanical Response of Red Blood Cells

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Mechanics of Biological Systems and Materials, Volume 6

Abstract

In their physiological function, red blood cells (RBCs) need to undergo large deformations in order to pass through capillaries and small vessels. In several pathological conditions, including diabetes mellitus and Alzheimer’s disease, this extreme deformability appears to be deeply impaired and an increase in the RBCs stiffness is usually detected.

Given the key role played by the mechanical properties of RBCs, we investigated their viscous-elastic response by AFM nano-mapping. High-resolution maps demonstrate that healthy erythrocytes are stiffer in their canter and softer at the periphery. The RBC stiffness profile shows a cylindrical symmetry that appears to be strongly correlated with their typical biconcave shape.

Our measurements show that the Young’s modulus is strongly depending on the indentation rate, demonstrating that viscous forces have a key role in determining their mechanical response. The importance of viscous forces is further stressed by the comparison between healthy and pathological erythrocyte. Our data show that pathological RBCs are not simply stiffer than healthy ones. Conversely they display a different dependence on the indentation rate that leads to an apparent increase in stiffness. Taken together our results show that both the local stiffness distribution and the viscoelastic response provide important information on RBC biomechanics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Physics, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Largo F. Vito 1, 00168, Rome, Italy

    Massimiliano Papi, Gabriele Ciasca, Valentina Palmieri, Giuseppe Maulucci, Eleonora Minelli & Marco De Spirito

  2. Institute of Biochemistry and Clinical Biochemistry, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Largo F. Vito 1, 00168, Rome, Italy

    Cristina Rossi

Authors
  1. Massimiliano Papi
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  2. Gabriele Ciasca
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  3. Valentina Palmieri
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  4. Giuseppe Maulucci
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  5. Cristina Rossi
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  6. Eleonora Minelli
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  7. Marco De Spirito
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Massimiliano Papi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York, USA

    Chad S. Korach

  2. Michigan State University , East Lansing, Michigan, USA

    Srinivasan Arjun Tekalur

  3. Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

    Pablo Zavattieri

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Papi, M. et al. (2017). Nano-Mechanical Response of Red Blood Cells. In: Korach, C., Tekalur, S., Zavattieri, P. (eds) Mechanics of Biological Systems and Materials, Volume 6. Conference Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Mechanics Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41351-8_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41351-8_2

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-41351-8

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