Can you think of this?

[Yazeed]

How can the red blood cells move through the capillaries?

I have read that they squeeze but logically how can a big population of RBCs move at the same time?

[Mateo]

I don't fully understand what you are asking... The RBC squeeze, as you say.

[tsonami]

toward gravity

[Faisal]

hi everybody ..

i`m faisal from kfmc faculty of medicine .. saudi arabia ..


yazeed means by his quistion .. how can a large Reticulocyte (for example) move throgh the wall of capillaries by diapedesis (squeezing) ..
when you think about this logically .. its difficult :S

how could that happen ?

[Boris]

Originalmente publicado por Yazeed

How can the red blood cells move through the capillaries?

I have read that they squeeze but logically how can a big population of RBCs move at the same time?

Yes, RBCs squeeze.

I was reading about sickle cell disease and remembered this thread. In this disease RBCs lose the ability to squeeze because they have HbS instead of HbA.

Maybe this quote would be helpful:

"In order to move through the body, Johnson explains, red blood cells-the plump disk-shaped packages into which the body's hemoglobin is packed-must be able to slip through capillaries smaller in diameter than the cells themselves. In order for the red blood cells containing normal HbA to make the squeeze, they easily flex, fold and refold themselves to move through the small openings.
In contrast, cells containing HbS harden when they give away the oxygen they carry. HbS molecules inside the cells crystallize into a rigid, spike form. These spikes of crystallized HbS push out the walls of the red blood cells, distorting their shape from disks into the characteristic sickle shape that gives the condition its name." -extracted from http://www.usc.edu/hsc/info/pr/hmm/9...r/turning.html


OMIM´s review about sickle cell anemia, here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/d....cgi?id=603903

[Yazeed]

Thank you so much Boris