Surface Area-to-Volume Ratio, not Cellular Viscoelasticity is the Major Determinant of Red Blood Cell Traversal through Small Channels

Abstract

The remarkable deformability of red blood cells (RBCs) depends on the viscoelasticity of the plasma membrane and cell contents and the surface area to volume (SA:V) ratio; however, it remains unclear which of these factors is the key determinant for passage through small capillaries. We used a microfluidic device to examine the traversal of normal, stiffened, swollen, parasitised and immature RBCs1. We show that dramatic stiffening of RBCs had no measurable effect on their ability to traverse small channels.