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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 24: Poster B: Active Biological Matter, Cell Mechanics, Systems Biology, Computational Biophysics, etc.
BP 24.15: Poster
Tuesday, March 23, 2021, 16:00–18:30, BPp
Dynamic RT-DC: red blood cell viscoelasticity as a label-free biomarker — •Bob Fregin1,3, Fabian Czerwinski1, Konstanze Aurich2, Doreen Biedenweg2, Stefan Groß3, Gerald Kerth4, and Oliver Otto1,3 — 1ZIK HIKE, Universität Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany — 2Universitätsklinikum Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany — 3DZHK, Universität Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany — 4Angewandte Zoologie und Naturschutz, Universität Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
Real-Time Deformability Cytometry (RT-DC) is a label-free technique for single-cell mechanical analysis with high throughput of up to 1,000 cells/s. Initially, RT-DC was limited to steady-state deformation captured at the end of a microfluidic channel yielding Young's modulus.
Dynamic RT-DC (dRT-DC) introduces the possibility to capture full viscoelastic properties at up to 100 cells/s. Single-cell shape-changes along the entire length of the microfluidic channel are tracked in real-time and are subsequently analyzed by a Fourier decomposition discriminating cell responses to interfering stress distributions. We demonstrate that dRT-DC allows for cell mechanical assays at the millisecond time scale fully independent of cell shape. We use this approach for a fundamental comparison of peripheral blood cells based on their Young's modulus as well as viscosity.
In proof-of-principle experiments, we use dRT-DC to approach the question of temperature control in hibernating animals. Initial experiments on bats and humans suggest a role of red blood cell viscoelasticity to maintain blood flow at low temperatures.