红细胞显微激光共焦拉曼散射光谱扫描技术研究

采用显微激光共焦拉曼散射光谱扫描系统对活态红细胞进行拉曼光谱(点测定、线扫描、二维扫描)测定及成像的技术与方法进行了研究,并对514 nm激光对红细胞在拉曼扫描中的影响进行了评价。通过扫描前后细胞的拉曼光谱变化和亮场图像变化确定了在不同扫描模式下既可获得较好的拉曼散射信号,又不会影响细胞生命活动与功能的合适扫描参数的设置。对于点扫描模式,样品激光功率是重点调节的参数,一般应小于1.5 mW。对于线扫描模式,照射激光功率和扫描间隔(步进)是要重点关注的参数。小扫描间隔意味着激光能量相对聚集,易对细胞造成损伤;大扫描间隔可以较好地降低激光对细胞的损伤,但是空间分辨率会因此而下降。对于线扫描,建议扫描间隔大于0.5 μm、照射激光功率小于0.7 mW。对于二维扫描,除照射激光功率、扫描间隔需要调节外,其他扫描参数也要作相应调节以降低激光对红细胞的影响,可适当降低样品温度和增加共焦孔径尺寸降低二维扫描过程中激光对红细胞的影响。1.0 μm扫描间隔、0.7 mW的照射激光功率和500 μm共焦孔径,以及样品温度适当调低可得到较好的二维红细胞拉曼图像。对于所有扫描模式,如果得到的红细胞的拉曼信号足够强,也可适当降低曝光积分时间以降低激光对红细胞的影响。实验前进行实验过程的优化对活态细胞的拉曼测试也非常重要。     

Pressure-induced hemolysis of in vivo aged human erythrocytes is enhanced by inhibition of water transport via aquaporin-1

Human erythrocytes are fractionated into young, intermediate, and old cells according to their densities. Pressure-induced hemolysis reflects sensitively membrane perturbations. Therefore, the hemolysis of erythrocytes at 200 MPa was examined using fractionated cells. Pressure-induced hemolysis of old (or in vivo aged) erythrocytes was enhanced, compared with those of young and intermediate cells which showed the same hemolytic values. Flow cytometric analysis showed less fragmentation of old erythrocytes under pressure. Moreover, the water transport through the membrane was suppressed in old erythrocytes than intermediate ones. The low permeability of water in old erythrocytes was confirmed by osmotic hemolysis using a hypotonic buffer. These results suggest that water transport via aquaporin-1 (AQP1) is inhibited in old erythrocytes. As the number of AQP1 molecules remained constant in old erythrocytes, the function of AQP1 may be reduced.     

Membrane deformation of unfixed erythrocytes in air with time lapse investigated by tapping mode atomic force microscopy

Estimation of the time of death is one of the most important problems for forensic medicine and law. Physical and chemical postmortem changes are evaluated together while estimating the time of death. The pattern analysis of antemortem and postmortem bloodstains is one of the important parameters for forensic science, and cellular changes of blood cells can be useful for the quantitative assessment of the time of death. In this study, by successively investigating erythrocytes exposed in air on mica for 5 days using tapping mode atomic force microscopy (TM-AFM), we observed deformation of whole cell and membrane surface of unfixed erythrocytes with time lapse. We found that the time-dependent cellular changes occurred after exposure of erythrocytes in air for several days. At 0.5 days of exposure, fissures and cell shrinkage were observed. At 2.5 days of exposure, the emergence of nanometer-scale protuberances were observed and these protuberances increased in number with increasing time. The changes of cell shape and cell membrane surface ultrastructure can be used to estimate the time of death. Futhermore, smear-induced abnormal erythrocytes and immunostained erythrocytes were observed here. The need for more precise research is indicated, such as the correlation of membrane changes to intervals of less than 0.5 day of air exposure, and use of various substrates in addition to mica, including glass, metals, fabrics, among others, on which the bloodstains appear in crime scenes. The results of this research demonstrate the efficacy of AFM as a potentially powerful analytical tool in forensic science.     

单细胞拉曼光谱分析地中海贫血红细胞的氧合态和去氧态

应用光镊拉曼光谱系统俘获单个红细胞并收集其拉曼光谱,选择I1638/I1547比值为区分红细胞氧合及去氧态指标,比较分析地中海贫血HbH-CS和健康个体单个红细胞的氧循环过程的氧合和去氧能力及去氧态群体红细胞.结果发现,在氧循环的去氧态中,地中海贫血HbH-CS的I1638/I1547显著高于正常对照;氧合态的I1638/I1547也略高于正常对照.群体统计中,若以小于正常对照I1638/I1547的平均值为去氧态基准,则正常对照46%的红细胞达到去氧态.而地中海贫血HbH-CS仅有15%,表明地中海贫血HbH-CS红细胞的氧合能力较强,但去氧能力显著低于正常对照,而且地中海贫血HbH-CS红细胞个体差异较大.该研究在单细胞水平上,揭示了地中海贫血HbH-CS红细胞氧合,去氧能力以及细胞个体差异性,以评价其携氧功能,为诊断治疗提供一定的理论依据.     

基于拉曼光谱方法研究不同剪切力下的红细胞亚损伤

利用共聚焦拉曼光谱技术,对人工心脏泵不同剪切应力下受到亚损伤的红细胞进行实验研究,验证拉曼光谱对红细胞亚损伤程度的评估能力,为血液损伤评价提供了一种新的思路。实验采集血红蛋白和红细胞的拉曼光谱标准谱图并进行对比分析,以确定红细胞谱图特征峰的归属。用血液剪切力试验平台对测试血样施加暴露时间为1 s,大小分别为0,50,100,150,200,250和300 pa的剪切力。利用共聚焦拉曼仪器,在10倍长焦物镜,532 nm激光光源波长,积分时间10 s,积分次数2次,2.5 mW功率下采集剪切应力作用后的红细胞拉曼谱图。通过归一化的方法对比红细胞的拉曼谱图变化,评估红细胞亚损伤的程度,运用曲线拟合方法对特征峰和剪切应力进行拟合,验证拉曼光谱对红细胞亚损伤的评估能力。对比血红蛋白和红细胞的拉曼光谱标准谱图发现,红细胞谱图能够反映血红蛋白的内部结构。且结果表明,拉曼光谱法可以用于区分不同剪切应力下亚损伤的红细胞,推断剪切应力可以透过细胞膜从而影响到其内部的血红蛋白结构。且随着剪切力的增大,1 376 cm-1位置左侧谱线呈现明显抬高趋势,1 549和1 604 cm-1位置的峰强增高,1 639 cm-1位置的氧浓度标记带ν₁₀振动谱带减弱。其中1 549 cm-1位置的峰强为亚铁离子高自旋带,在不同剪切力的作用下,峰强差异表现最明显,与剪切应力呈明显的正向线性关系,拟合效果良好。拉曼光谱法检测样本处理简单、耗时短、操作简便、重现性好,且可以精确的检测到细胞内部结构的细微变化,可以评估红细胞的亚损伤程度,弥补了传统评价溶血的方法的不足,为人工心脏泵血液损伤评价提供了新的技术手段,拓宽了拉曼检测方法的应用领域。     

Enhancement of ultrasonically induced cell damage by phthalocyanines in vitro

In this work, erythrocytes from carp were used as a nucleated cell model to test the hypothesis that the phthalocyanines (zinc - ZnPc and chloroaluminium -AlClPc) enhance ultrasonically induced damage in vitro. In order to confirm and complete our earlier investigation, the influence of ultrasound (US) and phthalocyanines (Pcs) on unresearched cellular components, was studied. Red blood cells were exposed to 1 MHz continuous ultrasound wave (0.61 and/or 2.44 W/cm²) in the presence or absence of phthalocyanines (3 μM). To identify target cell damage, we studied hemolysis, membrane fluidity and morphology of erythrocytes. To demonstrate the changes in the fluidity of plasma membrane we used the spectrofluorimetric methods using two fluorescence probes: 1-[4-(trimethylamino)phenyl]-6-phenyl-1,3,5,-hexatriene (TMA-DPH) and 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH). The effect of US and Pcs on nucleated erythrocytes morphology was estimated on the basis of microscopic observation.The enhancement of ultrasonically induced membrane damage by both phthalocyanines was observed in case of hemolysis, and membrane surface fluidity, in comparison to ultrasound. The authors also observed changes in the morphology of erythrocytes. The obtained results support the hypothesis that the Pcs enhance ultrasonically induced cell damage in vitro.Furthermore, the influence of ultrasound on phthalocyanines (Pcs) in medium and in cells was tested. The authors observed changes in the phthalocyanines absorption spectra in the medium and the increase in the intensity of phthalocyanines fluorescence in the cells. These data can suggest changes in the structure of phthalocyanines after ultrasound action.     

Light scattering by erythrocytes under conditions of osmotic imbalance in a cell-surrounding medium system

A model for changes in the sizes of erythrocytes under conditions of osmotic imbalance in a hypoosmotic medium is proposed assuming free diffusion of water through the erythrocyte membrane. Equations relating the minimum and maximum osmotic resistances to the shape of an erythrocyte in an isotonic medium are obtained. A numerical simulation is used to determine how the optical attenuation coefficient varies as a result of the swelling and hemolysis of erythrocytes; this provides a foundation for a new optical method for determining the osmotic resistance of erythrocytes. This method does not require exerting a force on the erythrocytes, is distinguished by simplicity and high speed, and can be implemented using standard spectrophotometers.     

Structure and function in native and pathological erythrocytes: A quantitative view from the nanoscale

The red blood cells (RBCs) are among the most simple and less expensive cells to purify; for this reason and for their physiological relevance, they have been extensively studied with a variety of techniques. The picture that results is that these cells have several peculiarities including extreme mechanical performances, relatively simple architecture, biological relevance and predictable behavior that make them a perfect laboratory of testing for novel techniques, methodologies and ideas. These include the re-evaluation of old concepts, such as the relationship between structure and function (which is one of the guideline of this report) but considered at the cellular level. The studies reported on this paper, indeed, exploit the full potential of an high resolution quantitative microscopy such as the atomic force microscopy (AFM) to investigate different aspect of the erythrocytes' life, death and interaction with the environment. Indeed, the erythrocytes have a special relationship with the environment that is able to deeply influence their morphology as consequence of alteration of their biochemical or biophysical status. In this context the conditions under which the erythrocytes can be considered as biochemically programmable systems have been investigated by analyzing different environmentally induced alteration of the cell's morphology and comparing the results with naturally occurring pathological morphologies. This class of studies takes great advantage by the additional consideration of the nanomechanical properties of the cells. These latter are particularly important for the cell functionality and are shown to be of practical usefulness to discriminate and partition environmental effects charging different cellular structure (e.g. membrane or membrane-skeleton). Moreover, the development of novel morphological parameter can be important to push the level of investigation on the RBCs' status towards the molecular level. In particular, we describe the introduction and use of the plasma membrane roughness as a morphometric parameter of simple derivation from the AFM images and that results sensitive to the structural integrity of the cells' membrane-skeleton. This offer a remarkable opportunity to investigate the relationship between structure and function in normal and pathological cells by using a morphometric parameter that probes the cell surface at the nanoscale level. At last, a complex but physio-pathologically important phenomenon such as the erythrocytes aging was considered. To properly analyze the many variation that the cells experience during the whole aging path we used all the parameters that the AFM can provides: quantitative imaging, analysis of the membrane roughness and local measure of the nanomechanical properties analyzed together with biochemical parameter such as the ATP content. The picture that emerged is that the aging path is triggered by the ATP intracellular concentration that influence the membrane-skeleton structure and the support exerted on the plasma membrane. The consequences of the membrane-skeleton involvement can be monitored by AFM and showed the occurrence of peculiar morphologies and morphological defects that appear in the very place where the membrane-skeleton contact with the membrane became loose. As a whole, the collected data enable to describe the entire phenomenon as a sequence of morphological intermediates following one another along the aging path.     

Digital holographic interference microscopy in the study of the 3D morphology and functionality of human blood erythrocytes

A digital holographic interference microscope is used to experimentally study the 3D morphology of human blood erythrocytes. It is demonstrated that, in addition to hematological diseases, the diseases of various genesises and external factors serve as the reasons for the morphological modifications of blood erythrocytes. A 3D model of erythrocyte is proposed to quantitatively estimate the effect of morphological modifications of blood erythrocytes on their functionality with respect to the oxygen transfer. It is demonstrated that the observed morphological modifications of erythrocytes lead to a significant decrease in the blood oxygen capacity and can serve as a reason for hypoxia.     

喇曼光镊分析血红细胞的携氧能力

应用喇曼光镊系统结合气体循环供给装置,收集了不同氧合状态的单个红细胞的喇曼光谱,分析了激光功率对氧合状态分析的影响.选择氧合态和去氧态的对比及区分指标,并运用该指标分析了不同保存时间、不同健康状态红细胞的携氧能力.结果发现：较强功率的激光照射细胞会导致其亚铁血红素凝集特征峰1 248、1 371 cm－1升高|I1 638/I1 547比值是区分氧合态与去氧态的良好标志|经较长时间保存的红细胞氧合能力增强,但去氧能力没有显著变化|而α-地中海贫血HbH-CS患者的红细胞氧合能力比正常对照的强,但其去氧能力较差.从而表明喇曼光镊可以快速灵敏地分析红细胞的氧合能力,评价其携氧功能.     

pH值对多类人地贫红细胞作用的拉曼光谱研究

地中海贫血是一种发病率高,影响大的血液疾病。以往对地中海贫血的检测方法繁琐,耗时较长。通过对酸、碱pH环境下不同种类地贫红细胞和正常红细胞拉曼光谱的对照,发现在酸性条件下,α-地贫和β-地贫的拉曼谱具有不同的特征：表征氧合血红蛋白的特征峰谱带在β-地贫下强度升高甚至完全取代脱氧血红蛋白的特征峰;β-地贫红细胞膜的链间侧向相互作用序参数较正常红细胞膜的小,且其S_lat值与正常相比减小的比例随贫血程度的不同而不同,而α-地贫的S_lat值与正常红细胞膜的值相当。结果显示,可以基于pH作用的拉曼光谱测定方法,用于协助对地中海贫血的快速诊断。     

Mediated trehalose un-loading for reduced erythrocyte osmotic fragility and phosphatidylserine translocation

Recently, high concentrations of intracellular trehalose (>200mM) were employed to enhance the cryoprotection and desiccation protection of human erythrocytes. However, significant challenges must be overcome if this advancement is to be translated into clinical practice. It is here demonstrated that 247 ± 5 mM intracellular trehalose caused the lysis of 60 ± 2 percent of erythrocytes upon resuspension in PBS of physiological osmolality (300 mOsm) and caused surviving cells to swell up to 140 ± 2 percent of isotonic cell volume. Trehalose loaded cells also exhibited 24 ± 1 percent incidence of phosphatidylserine translocation upon resuspension in 300 mOsm PBS, likely due to loading induced cell swelling. Un-loading of trehalose from erythrocytes using the membrane-permeabilizing biopolymer PP-50 was investigated as a technique to mitigate these damaging effects. After erythrocyte un-loading from 247 ± 5 mM to 39 ± 2 mM intracellular trehalose, cell lysis at 300 mOsm PBS was reduced from 60 ± 2 percent to 17 ± 3 percent. Un-loading also reduced cellular incidence of PS translocation in resuspended cells from 24 ± 1 percent to 13 ± 1 percent.     

Mössbauer studies of malaria

Mössbauer studies of rat and human erythrocytes infected by malarial parasites have been carried out. Different parameters of the pigment iron were obtained in human and rat infected red blood cells. No difference was found between the parameters obtained in rat erythrocytes infected by drug sensitive and drug resistant strains ofp. berghei, both before and after the treatment with chloroquine. The pigment was shown to contain a trivalent, high spin iron compound, which is different from hematin.     

Experimental observation of blood erythrocyte structure in the field of standing surface acoustic waves

The paper presents experimental results of observing the structurization effect for one of the formed elements of blood—erythrocytes—in the field of standing surface acoustic waves. Characteristic images of the striated structures formed by erythrocytes on the surface of lithium niobate as result of ultrasound action have been obtained. The results on the ultrasound structurization of erythrocytes in a blood sample and of calcium carbonate particles in an aqueous colloid solution have been comparatively analyzed. It has been noted that the achieved effect agrees qualitatively with the theoretical model of the behavior of colloid particle ensembles in an acoustic field developed by O.V. Rudenko et al.     

微通道内红细胞流动与变形的可视化研究

微循环条件下,红细胞的尺寸与血管相近,血液不能视为均质流体,其流动表现出较强的颗粒性,红细胞流变特性对血液流动有较大影响。本文使用高倍显微镜对微流控芯片矩形截面微通道内红细胞的流动和变形特性进行可视化观察研究,并使用高速CCD相机拍摄和捕捉了红细胞在微通道内的流动和变形过程。通过观察不同浓度、粘度和速度下红细胞的聚集性、变形性以及常见的运动形态,发现红细胞在低粘度、低速流动条件下表现为两面凹圆盘形,沿流动方向运动过程总是伴随着翻转与旋转;在高粘度、高速运动条件下,红细胞表现为扁平椭圆形、呈坦克履带式(TTM)前进。     

Spectroscopic studies on distorted structure molecules by using U(2) Lie algebraic method

Resonance Raman spectra of oxygenated and deoxygenated functional erythrocytes are calculated by using Lie algebraic technique at 785 nm. The results are obtained by this method is accuracy with the experimental data. So, the algebraic techniques are appropriate to the Raman spectra of red blood cells.     

Optical digital microscopy for cyto- and hematological studies in vitro

The dependence of the spatial resolution and field of view of an optical microscope equipped with a CCD camera on the objective magnification has been experimentally investigated. Measurement of these characteristics has shown that a spatial resolution of 20–25 px/μm at a field of view of about 110 μm is quite realistic; this resolution is acceptable for a detailed study of the processes occurring in cell. It is proposed to expand the dynamic range of digital camera by measuring and approximating its light characteristics with subsequent plotting of the corresponding calibration curve. The biological objects of study were human adipose tissue cells, as well as erythrocytes and their immune complexes in human blood; both objects have been investigated in vitro. Application of optical digital microscopy for solving specific problems of cytology and hematology can be useful in both biomedical studies in experiments with objects of nonbiological origin.     

Photothermal biological effects of monomeric erythrocyte using optical tweezers

The changes of mechanical properties and biological activities of monomeric erythrocytes are studied using optical tweezers micromanipulation technology. Firstly, the mechanical properties of irradiated erythrocyte membranes are obtained. Weaker power laser irradiation can delay the decay of the mechanical properties of erythrocytes and promote the biological activity of erythrocytes, while higher power laser irradiation damages erythrocytes. The stronger the laser irradiation is, the more obvious and rapid the damage will be. The temperature of the cell surface will be changed by regulating the laser power and irradiation time, so the biological functions of erythrocyte can be controlled. Secondly, the finite element simulation of the temperature change on the cell surface under the condition of laser irradiation is carried out using simulation software, and the precise temperature of the cell surface irradiated cumulatively by a laser with different powers is obtained. Finally, the processes of abscission, unfolding, and denaturation of hemoglobins in erythrocytes at different temperatures due to the photothermal effect are analyzed using the model. The mechanism of laser irradiation on the elasticity of erythrocyte membranes is also obtained.     

Analysis of the informativeness of polarization and nephelometric measurements in diagnostics of the microphysical parameters of erythrocytes

Regression relations are found between the microphysical parameters (MPPs) of human blood erythrocytes and the angular coefficients of linear polarization P(??), as well as between the MPPs of erythrocytes and angular coefficients of linear polarization P(??) together with the directional scattering coefficients ??(??). The efficiency of using these regression relations for determining the MPPs of erythrocytes is estimated. It is shown that the involvement of polarization measurements allows one to reduce the error in the retrieval of MPPs, as well as of the size and volume distribution functions, to ??3%.     

Separation of red blood cells by magnetic means

A recent article by Haik et al. is critically reviewed. It is shown that the techniques of separation of red blood cells proposed by the above authors are unlikely to work and that high-gradient magnetic separation is probably the only viable method of separation of erythrocytes.