Red Blood Cells

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A team of biologists from the University of Surrey, the MRC Laboratory for Molecular Biology, Wake Forest University and the École Centrale de Lyon has discovered that red blood cells generate an electric field voltage that appears outside and not just within, meaning each cell acts as a tiny electrode.
Hughes et al. demonstrate an endogenously-generated electric field proportional to the membrane potential Vm, and most likely caused by capacitive coupling between cytoplasm and extracellular medium, which manifests as changes in ζ-potential, low-frequency polarization and surface conductance; significantly, this shows red blood cells can alter the way in which they interact with their surroundings by the membrane potential rather than membrane composition, shedding new light on ion channel activity, cardiovascular disease, and drug action. Image credit: Allinonemovie.
Since the experiments conducted by the prominent Italian physician Luigi Galvani in 1792, it has been known that electricity plays a role in biological function.
Subsequent works by Walther Nernst, David Goldman, Alan Hodgkin and Bernard Katz showed that the ionic imbalance between intracellular and extracellular spaces creates an electrochemical potential which plays a fundamental role in the function of muscle and nerves.
However, until now, this voltage has always been understood to be contained within a biological cell.
Through new experiments with red blood cells, University of Surrey’s Professor Mike Hughes and colleagues found that the voltage appears outside the cell as well.
“This means that cells effectively act as tiny transmitters, electrically changing the environment around them,” they said.
“Similar results in other types of biological cells could play a significant role in determining new types of medical treatment.”
The authors also demonstrated that the electrical characteristics of red blood cells exhibit circadian rhythms, the natural 24-hour cycle followed by most living things, with peaks coinciding with the time of day when most cardiovascular disease events occur, such as heart attacks and strokes, presenting an important area for further research.
“Biology is often reduced to interactions between big molecules, but cell-scale science is an essential area of study,” Professor Hughes said.
“By reintroducing the electrical element, we are looking for — and finding — a whole new way to understand how the body works.”
The findings were published September 30, 2021 in the journal Scientific Reports.
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M.P. Hughes et al. 2021. Vm-related extracellular potentials observed in red blood cells. Sci Rep 11, 19446; doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-98102-9

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