The role of membrane undulations in cell adhesion

• Main Author: Li, Yuan.
• Other Authors: Bjoern Holger Neu
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: DRNTU::Science::Biological sciences::Cytology
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/45342
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Human Red Blood Cells (RBC) undergo several physicochemical changes, during their course of life span of approximately 120 days. The increased aggregation of senescent RBC continues to be of great interest to researchers. Several studies were done to determine the extracellular factors that affect the RBC aggregation. For this purpose, previous experimental results are analyzed to give more insight into the topic. The RBCs are treated with varying concentrations of the enzyme Neuraminidase to remove cell surface charge. These RBCs were allowed to adhere onto the albumin-coated glass in varying solutions namely Phosphate Buffered Saline (PBS) with 0.2% Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA), as well as 1g/dL 40K Dextran and 1g/dL 70L Dextran. Through the use of the Interference Reflection Microscope (IRM), the RBC undulation amplitudes and adhesion energies are tabulated. The results showed that the role of membrane undulation as a repulsive force is insignificant in cell adhesion as compared to the depletion interaction due to the Dextran macromolecules. With reference to other studies, there are several other factors such as temperature, ATP concentration, water transport, depletion of haemoglobin and the volume of cell, affect the membrane undulation. Recent research shows that the membrane undulation plays a major role in causing conformational changes and reorganization of surface biomolecules. It has been hypothesized that the undulation forces have a stronger role in initiating and modulating signaling events during initial cell-surface contact. The role of membrane undulation may not be simply a repulsive force, but a major determinant of cell sensitivity to other surfaces and the outcome of interactions (cell adhesion or cell repulsion).