The impact of interferon-alpha on RBC-endothelium interaction: optical tweezers study

M. Maksimov; P. Ermolinskiy; O. Scheglovitova; A. Lugovtsov; A. Priezzhev

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M. Maksimov

, P. Ermolinskiy

, O. Scheglovitova

, A. Lugovtsov

, A. Priezzhev

Abstract: Objective: To study the interaction between red blood cells (RBCs) and endothelial cells during the interferon alpha-2b (IFN-α) treatment. Materials and methods: The optical tweezers technique was applied to measure the forces of RBC pair aggregation and the adhesion forces of single RBCs to the endothelium monolayer at different concentrations of IFN-α. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were cultivated and formed a monolayer of cells. Only cells of the first passage were used. The cover glasses with endothelium were placed on the bottom of cuvettes filled with highly diluted RBCs in autologous plasma. Endothelium was either incubated with IFN-α diluted in cultivation medium for 24 hours or with cultivation medium as control. Additionally, in some experiments IFN-α was added to the plasma and RBCs without preincubation. Results: We demonstrate the IFN-α-induced decrease in RBC pair aggregation forces. The absolute values of forces are in range of 1-10 pN. The RBC-endothelium adhesion forces do not depend significantly on IFN-α concentration. Long-term incubation of endothelium with IFN-α and higher concentrations of this drug lead to the absence of the effect observed. Discussion: We explain the effect observed as follows: IFN-α increases NO production by endothelium (despite some authors state the opposite), NO decreases the RBC aggregation forces. Long-term incubation and higher IFN-α concentrations lead to the inhibition of endothelial nitric synthase by its own product and thus, decrease the NO concentration in the sample. Conclusion: Our results provide new insights to the endothelium-RBC-IFN-α interplay. We demonstrate the potential significance of IFN-α treatment of the endothelium to the blood flow via the optical tweezers technique, newly applied to this field of research.

Series on Biomechanics, Vol.38, No.4(2024), 59- 64
DOI: 10.7546/SB.09.04.2024

Keywords: cell interaction force; endothelium; interferon; nitric oxide; optical tweezers; Red blood cells

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DOI: 10.7546/SB.09.04.2024

Date published: 2024-12-11

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