Using computer models, researchers have discovered it’s a sticky type of red blood cell that starts the blockage that leads to a “sickle cell crisis.”
The models show that the rigid, crescent-shaped red blood cells that are the hallmark of sickle cell disease don’t cause these blockages on their own. Instead, softer, deformable red blood cells known as SS2 cells start the process by sticking to capillary walls. The rigid sickle-shaped cells then stack up behind the SS2s, like traffic behind a car wreck.
While sickle-shaped cells are the hallmark of the disease, they’re not the only type of red blood cell present in people with the condition. (Credit: Rob Pongsajapan/Flickr)The findings, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could provide a way to evaluate drug treatments aimed at easing or preventing sickle cell crisis, also known as vaso-occlusion.
