Novel analysis finds new mechanism underlying red blood cell aging
Novel analysis finds new mechanism underlying red blood cell aging Scientists have found a new mechanism underlying red blood cell aging. Red blood cells, the most abundant cell type in blood, carry oxygen throughout the human body. In blood circulation, they repeatedly encounter various levels of oxygen tension. Hypoxia, a low oxygen condition, is a very common micro-environmental factor in physiological processes of blood circulation and in conditions such as cancer, chronic inflammation, heart attacks and stroke In addition, a connection between poor cellular deformability -- the ability of blood cells to change shape in response to different levels of stress -- and impaired oxygen delivery is found in various pathological processes such as sickle cell disease. Sickle red blood cells simultaneously undergo drastic mechanical deformation during the sickling and unsickling process. The interactions between hypoxia and cell biomechanics and the underlying mechanisms of the