Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Biophysical Journal logoLink to Biophysical Journal
. 1987 May;51(5):795–807. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(87)83406-9

Cell disaggregation behavior in shear flow.

P Snabre, M Bitbol, P Mills
PMCID: PMC1329967  PMID: 2439136

Abstract

The disaggregation behavior of erythrocytes in dextran saline solution was investigated by a light reflectometry technique in a Couette flow and in a plane Poiseuille flow. Dextran concentration and mass average molecular weight of the polymer fraction strongly influence the shear stress dependence of the erythrocyte suspension reflectivity in shear flow and the critical hydrodynamic conditions (shear rate or shear stress) for near-complete cell dispersion. We investigated the influence of cell volume fraction and membrane deformability (heat treatment of the erythrocytes) on the reflectivity of the flowing suspension. This study indicates that the intercell adhesiveness and the shear stress are the only parameters that influence rouleau break-up in steady uniform shear flow, thus eliminating cell volume fraction and membrane deformability as possible factors. However, the critical cross-sectional average shear stress for near-complete cell dispersion through the flow cross-section is shown to depend on the flow pattern. The rotation of cells in a shear flow or the nonuniform shear field in Poiseuille flow indeed increases the flow resistance of cell aggregates. We give a theoretical description of the shear-induced cell disaggregation process in Couette flow and in plane Poiseuille flow. The quantitation of shear forces for cell dispersion provides a way for estimating the surface adhesive energy of the bridging membranes by fluid mechanical technique.

Full text

PDF
795

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Chien S., Jan K. M. Red cell aggregation by macromolecules: roles of surface adsorption and electrostatic repulsion. J Supramol Struct. 1973;1(4):385–409. doi: 10.1002/jss.400010418. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Chien S., Sung K. L., Skalak R., Usami S., Tözeren A. Theoretical and experimental studies on viscoelastic properties of erythrocyte membrane. Biophys J. 1978 Nov;24(2):463–487. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(78)85395-8. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Chien S., Sung L. A., Kim S., Burke A. M., Usami S. Determination of aggregation force in rouleaux by fluid mechanical technique. Microvasc Res. 1977 May;13(3):327–333. doi: 10.1016/0026-2862(77)90098-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Chien S., Sung L. A., Simchon S., Lee M. M., Jan K. M., Skalak R. Energy balance in red cell interactions. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1983;416:190–206. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1983.tb35189.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Chien S., Usami S., Taylor H. M., Lundberg J. L., Gregersen M. I. Effects of hematocrit and plasma proteins on human blood rheology at low shear rates. J Appl Physiol. 1966 Jan;21(1):81–87. doi: 10.1152/jappl.1966.21.1.81. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Evans E., Kukan B. Free energy potential for aggregation of erythrocytes and phosphatidylcholine/phosphatidylserine vesicles in Dextran (36,500 MW) solutions and in plasma. Biophys J. 1983 Nov;44(2):255–260. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(83)84297-0. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Gaehtgens P., Kreutz F., Albrecht K. H. Fahraeus effect and cell screening during tube flow of human blood. II. Effect of dextran-induced cell aggregation. Biorheology. 1978;15(3-4):155–161. doi: 10.3233/bir-1978-153-404. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Goldsmith H. L., Lichtarge O., Tessier-Lavigne M., Spain S. Some model experiments in hemodynamics: VI. Two-body collisions between blood cells. Biorheology. 1981;18(3-6):531–555. doi: 10.3233/bir-1981-183-617. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Jan K. Red cell interactions in macromolecular suspension. Biorheology. 1979;16(3):137–148. doi: 10.3233/bir-1979-16302. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Merrill E. W., Pelletier G. A. Viscosity of human blood: transition from Newtonian to non-Newtonian. J Appl Physiol. 1967 Aug;23(2):178–182. doi: 10.1152/jappl.1967.23.2.178. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Nash G. B., Meiselman H. J. Effects of dextran and polyvinylpyrrolidone on red cell geometry and membrane elasticity. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1983;416:255–262. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1983.tb35192.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Rakow A., Simchon S., Sung L. A., Chien S. Aggregation of red cells with membrane altered by heat treatment. Biorheology. 1981;18(1):3–8. doi: 10.3233/bir-1981-18102. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Skalak R., Zarda P. R., Jan K. M., Chien S. Mechanics of Rouleau formation. Biophys J. 1981 Sep;35(3):771–781. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(81)84826-6. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Snabre P., Baümler H., Mills P. Aggregation of human red blood cells after moderate heat treatment. Biorheology. 1985;22(3):185–195. doi: 10.3233/bir-1985-22303. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Wolf PE, Maret G. Weak localization and coherent backscattering of photons in disordered media. Phys Rev Lett. 1985 Dec 9;55(24):2696–2699. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.55.2696. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Biophysical Journal are provided here courtesy of The Biophysical Society

RESOURCES