Fig. 4.

Capillary distribution of spMBL. (A) The effect of diffusion on the distribution of particles in a capillary under constant pressure. (B) Different regimes in TDA experiments as a function of particle size and mobilizing pressure. Stars indicate the shift from Gaussian Taylor regime to convective driven distribution with correction for hydrodynamic chromatography (HDC) (21). (C) Taylorgrams calculated for nanoparticles at the same mobilization pressure with a Gaussian-driven distribution (Pe << 1 and τ > 1) (26, 27, 50). Capillary dimensions were set at 100-μm internal diameter ×50 cm total capillary length. This series of experiments corresponds to the horizontal arrow in B. (D) Taylorgram calculated for 250-nm nanoparticles in a large blood vessel with primarily convective distribution (Pe >> 1 and τ < 1). Capillary dimensions were set at 3,600 μm × 50 cm corresponding to the endpoint (red star) in the convective/HDC regime in B. (E) In healthy blood, MBL oligomers are relatively small and the Gaussian Taylor regimen dominates. (F) In SLE blood, the concentration of spMBL is increased, and a convective distribution is more prominent. As a consequence, the deposition of spMBL into the endothelial wall contributes to the formation of atherosclerotic plaques.