Artificially Induced Unusual Shape of Erythrocytes: An Atomic Force Microscopy Study

We used air operating Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) to study several morphological modifications of human erythrocytes, artificially produced by addition of exogenous agents including phospho-lipids, ionic strength and drugs. Most experiments were performed on unfixed samples to avoid treating red blood cells (RBCs) with chemical agents that can, in principle, induces morphological alteration. After a detailed quantitative AFM characterization, the artificially produced abnormally shaped RBCs were compared with cells that occur with high incidence in blood pathologies. This morphological approach suggests a new strategy to describe and understand the biochemical and/or mechanical modifications responsible for the underlying pathologically induced changes and prove AFM to be a suitable tool to study erythrocyte deformation.