The combined application of optical tweezers and advanced microscopy for examination of mutual interaction of red blood cells influenced by nano-materials    

Session

Stream 5: Imaging in Development and Disease

Authors

Prof. Igor Meglinski (1), Miss Tatiana Avsievich (3), Ms Ruixue Zhu (3), Prof. Alexander Yatskovskiy (2), Dr Alexander Bykov (3)

Affiliations

1. Aston University
2. I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University
3. University of Oulu

Keywords

optical tweezers, advanced microscopy, red blood cells (RBC), nano-particles, nano-capsules, scanning electron microscopy, blood aggregation       

Abstract text

Application of red blood cells (RBC) as natural transport courier for systemic drug delivery is considered a new paradigm in modern medicine and possesses a great potential. n the frame of this paradigm, the interaction of nano- or sub-micro-particles with the RBC as a drug carrier has recently been studIn frame of this paradigm drugs, re-presented as nano- or sub-micro-particles of various volume fractions, are considered to be placed on the surface of RBC for further transportation. In this point of view ultimate understanding of mutual interaction of RBC influenced by nano-materials composed the drugs is required. Optical tweezers (OT) is widely used to explore mechanisms of cells’ interaction with the ability to trap non-invasively, manipulate and displace living cells with a notably high accuracy. In the current report, we present the results of the study of mutual interaction of RBC with various nano-particles and polymeric nano-capsules by using utilizing a two-channel OT system. Scanning electron microscopy is utilized for direct observation of nanoparticles localization on the RBC membranes. The obtained results suggest that, in the presence of nano-capsules, the RBC aggregation in plasma satisfies the ‘cross-bridges’ model. We also examined the influence of pulsed He-Ne laser radiation on the mutual RBC interaction. The combined application of OT and advanced microscopy approaches brings new insights into the conception of direct observation of cells interaction influenced by nano-materials for the estimation of possible cytotoxic effects. The experiments are performed in a platelet-free blood plasma mimicking the RBC natural environment. We show that nano-diamonds influence mutual RBC interactions more antagonistically than other nanoparticles, resulting in higher aggregation forces and the formation of larger cell aggregates. In contrast, polymeric particles do not cause anomalous RBC aggregation. The results emphasize the application of optical tweezers for the direct quantitative assessment of the mutual interaction of RBC influenced by nanomaterials.

References

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T. Avsievich, R. Zhu, A. Popov, A. Bykov, and I. Meglinski, “The advancement of blood cell research by optical tweezers”, Reviews in Physics, Vol.5, 100043 (2020)

R. Zhu, T. Avsievich, A. Popov, and I. Meglinski, “Optical Tweezers in the Studies of Red Blood Cells”, Cells, Vol.9, No.3, 545 (2020) 

R.Zhu, T. Avsievich, A. Popov, A. Bykov, and I. Meglinski, “Influence of Pulsed He-Ne Laser Irradiation on the Red Blood Cell Interaction Studied by Optical Tweezers”, Micromachines, Vol.10, No.12, 853 (2019) 

T. Avsievich, A. Popov, A. Bykov, and I. Meglinski, “Mutual interaction of red blood cells influenced by nanoparticles”, Scientific Reports, Vol.9, 5147 (2019)

T. Avsievich, A. Popov, A. Bykov, I. Meglinski, “Mutual interaction of red blood cells assessed by optical tweezers and scanning electron microscopy imaging”, Optics Letters, Vol.43, No.16, 3921 – 3924 (2018)