Assessment of Fibrinogen Macromolecules Interaction with Red Blood Cells Membrane by Means of Laser Aggregometry, Flow Cytometry, and Optical Tweezers Combined with Microfluidics.

An elevated concentration of fibrinogen in blood is a significant risk factor during many pathological diseases, as it leads to an increase in red blood cells (RBC) aggregation, resulting in hemorheological disorders. Despite the biomedical importance, the mechanisms of fibrinogen-induced RBC aggregation are still debatable. One of the discussed models is the non-specific adsorption of fibrinogen macromolecules onto the RBC membrane, leading to the cells bridging in aggregates. However, recent works point to the specific character of the interaction between fibrinogen and the RBC membrane. Fibrinogen is the major physiological ligand of glycoproteins receptors IIbIIIa (GPIIbIIIa or αIIßß3 or CD41/CD61). Inhibitors of GPIIbIIIa are widely used in clinics for the treatment of various cardiovascular diseases as antiplatelets agents preventing the platelets' aggregation. However, the effects of GPIIbIIIa inhibition on RBC aggregation are not sufficiently well studied. The objective of the present work was the complex multimodal in vitro study of the interaction between fibrinogen and the RBC membrane, revealing the role of GPIIbIIIa in the specificity of binding of fibrinogen by the RBC membrane and its involvement in the cells' aggregation process. We demonstrate that GPIIbIIIa inhibition leads to a significant decrease in the adsorption of fibrinogen macromolecules onto the membrane, resulting in the reduction of RBC aggregation. We show that the mechanisms underlying these effects are governed by a decrease in the bridging components of RBC aggregation forces.

Optical assessment of alterations of microrheologic and microcirculation parameters in cardiovascular diseases.

In this work, we compare the blood aggregation parameters measured in vitro by laser aggregometry and optical trapping techniques in blood samples with the parameters of blood rheology measured in vivo by digital capillaroscopy in the nail bed capillaries of patients suffering from the hypertension and coronary heart disease. We show that the alterations of the parameters measured in vivo and in vitro for patients with different stages of these diseases are interrelated. Good agreement between the results obtained with different techniques, and their applicability for the diagnostics of abnormalities of rheological properties of blood are demonstrated.