A numerical model of a red blood cell infected by Plasmodium falciparum malaria: coupling cell mechanics with ligand-receptor interactions

Abstract

We developed a numerical model of the behavior of a red blood cell infected by Plasmodium falciparum malaria on a wall in shear flow. The fluid and solid mechanics of an infected red blood cell (Pf-IRBC) were coupled with the biochemical interaction of ligand-receptor bindings. We used the boundary element method for fluid mechanics, the finite element method for membrane mechanics, and the Monte Carlo method for ligand-receptor interactions. We simulated the behavior of a Pf-IRBC in shear flow, focusing on the effects of bond type. For slip bonds, the Pf-IRBC exhibited firm adhesion, tumbling motion, and tank-treading motion, depending on the applied shear rate. The behavior of catch bonds resembled that of slip bonds, except for a ‘catch’ state at high shear stress. When the reactive compliance decreased to a value in the order of nm, both the slip and catch bonds behaved like an ideal bond. Such bonds do not respond to the force applied to the bond, and the velocity is stabilized at a high shear rate. Finally, we compared the numerical results with previous experiments for A4- and ItG-infected cells. We found that the interaction between PfEMP1 and ICAM-1 could be a nearly ideal bond, with a dissociation rate ranging from to .