2026-02-09 ミネソタ大学
Stiff cells organize within the flow, creating low (left) concentration regions and high (right) concentration regions, which drastically increases flow resistance. Photo provided by Hannah Szafraniec
<関連情報>
- https://cse.umn.edu/college/news/stiff-cells-provide-new-explanation-differing-symptoms-sickle-cell-patients
- https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adx3842
鎌状赤血球症における血流のマルチスケールダイナミクスは懸濁液の物理によって制御される Suspension physics govern the multiscale dynamics of blood flow in sickle cell disease
Hannah M. Szafraniec, Freya Bull, John M. Higgins, Howard A. Stone, […] , and David K. Wood
Science Advances Published:1 Jan 2026
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adx3842
Abstract
From diabetes to malaria, altered blood flow contributes to poor clinical outcomes. Heterogeneity in red blood cell (RBC) properties within and across individuals has hindered our ability to establish the multiscale mechanisms driving pathological flow dynamics in such diseases. To address this, we develop microfluidic platforms to measure RBC properties and flow dynamics in the same blood samples from patients with sickle cell disease (SCD). We find that effective blood viscosity across individuals is explained by the proportion of stiff RBCs, exhibiting qualitative similarities to rigid-particle suspensions, despite considerable mechanical heterogeneity. By combining simulations with spatially resolved measurements of cell dynamics, we show how features of emergent rheology are governed by spatiotemporal cell organization, via margination at intermediate oxygen tensions, and localized jamming caused by spatial hematocrit variations under hypoxia. Our work defines the suspension physics underlying pathological blood flow in SCD and, more broadly, emergent rheology in heterogeneous particle suspensions.
