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Cell Reports Aug 2022Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are the seeds of distant metastasis, and the number of CTCs detected in the blood of cancer patients is associated with a worse prognosis.... (Review)
Review
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are the seeds of distant metastasis, and the number of CTCs detected in the blood of cancer patients is associated with a worse prognosis. CTCs face critical challenges for their survival in circulation, such as anoikis, shearing forces, and immune surveillance. Thus, understanding the mechanisms and interactions of CTCs within the blood microenvironment is crucial for better understanding of metastatic progression and the development of novel treatment strategies. CTCs interact with different hematopoietic cells, such as platelets, red blood cells, neutrophils, macrophages, natural killer (NK) cells, lymphocytes, endothelial cells, and cancer-associated fibroblasts, which can affect CTC survival in blood. This interaction may take place either via direct cell-cell contact or through secreted molecules. Here, we review interactions of CTCs with blood cells and discuss the potential clinical relevance of these interactions as biomarkers or as targets for anti-metastatic therapies.
Topics: Biology; Biomarkers, Tumor; Blood Cells; Cell Count; Endothelial Cells; Humans; Neoplasm Metastasis; Neoplastic Cells, Circulating; Tumor Microenvironment
PubMed: 36044866
DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111298 -
Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and... Sep 2021Thrombosis is a major complication of cardiovascular disease, leading to myocardial infarction, acute ischemic stroke, or venous thromboembolism. Thrombosis occurs when... (Review)
Review
Thrombosis is a major complication of cardiovascular disease, leading to myocardial infarction, acute ischemic stroke, or venous thromboembolism. Thrombosis occurs when a thrombus forms inside blood vessels disrupting blood flow. Developments in thrombectomy to remove thrombi from vessels have provided new opportunities to study thrombus composition which may help to understand mechanisms of disease and underpin improvements in treatments. We aimed to review thrombus compositions, roles of components in thrombus formation and stability, and methods to investigate thrombi. Also, we summarize studies on thrombus structure obtained from cardiovascular patients and animal models. Thrombi are composed of fibrin, red blood cells, platelets, leukocytes, and neutrophil extracellular traps. These components have been analyzed by several techniques, including scanning electron microscopy, laser scanning confocal microscopy, histochemistry, and immunohistochemistry; however, each technique has advantages and limitations. Thrombi are heterogenous in composition, but overall, thrombi obtained from myocardial infarction are composed of mainly fibrin and other components, including platelets, red blood cells, leukocytes, and cholesterol crystals. Thrombi from patients with acute ischemic stroke are characterized by red blood cell- and platelet-rich regions. Thrombi from patients with venous thromboembolism contain mainly red blood cells and fibrin with some platelets and leukocytes. Thrombus composition from patients with myocardial infarction is influenced by ischemic time. Animal thrombosis models are crucial to gain further mechanistic information about thrombosis and thrombus structure, with thrombi being similar in composition compared with those from patients. Further studies on thrombus composition and function are key to improve treatment and clinical outcome of thrombosis.
Topics: Animals; Blood Coagulation; Blood Platelets; Cholesterol; Disease Models, Animal; Erythrocytes; Fibrin; Humans; Leukocytes; Thrombectomy; Thrombosis
PubMed: 34261330
DOI: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.120.315754 -
American Family Physician Dec 2015An elevated white blood cell count has many potential etiologies, including malignant and nonmalignant causes. It is important to use age- and pregnancy-specific normal...
An elevated white blood cell count has many potential etiologies, including malignant and nonmalignant causes. It is important to use age- and pregnancy-specific normal ranges for the white blood cell count. A repeat complete blood count with peripheral smear may provide helpful information, such as types and maturity of white blood cells, uniformity of white blood cells, and toxic granulations. The leukocyte differential may show eosinophilia in parasitic or allergic conditions, or it may reveal lymphocytosis in childhood viral illnesses. Leukocytosis is a common sign of infection, particularly bacterial, and should prompt physicians to identify other signs and symptoms of infection. The peripheral white blood cell count can double within hours after certain stimuli because of the large bone marrow storage and intravascularly marginated pools of neutrophils. Stressors capable of causing an acute leukocytosis include surgery, exercise, trauma, and emotional stress. Other nonmalignant etiologies of leukocytosis include certain medications, asplenia, smoking, obesity, and chronic inflammatory conditions. Symptoms suggestive of a hematologic malignancy include fever, weight loss, bruising, or fatigue. If malignancy cannot be excluded or another more likely cause is not suspected, referral to a hematologist/oncologist is indicated.
Topics: Education, Medical, Continuing; Humans; Leukocyte Count; Leukocytes; Leukocytosis; Practice Guidelines as Topic
PubMed: 26760415
DOI: No ID Found -
Current Protocols in Cytometry Jul 2015Human peripheral blood is often studied by flow cytometry in both the research and clinical laboratories. The methods for collection, storage, and preparation of...
Human peripheral blood is often studied by flow cytometry in both the research and clinical laboratories. The methods for collection, storage, and preparation of peripheral blood will vary depending on the cell lineage to be examined as well as the type of assay to be performed. This unit presents protocols for collection of blood, separation of leukocytes from whole blood by lysis of erythrocytes, isolating mononuclear cells by density gradient separation, and assorted non-flow sorting methods, such as magnetic bead separations, for enriching specific cell populations, including monocytes, T lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, neutrophils, and platelets, prior to flow cytometric analysis. A protocol is also offered for cryopreservation of cells, since clinical research often involves retrospective flow cytometric analysis of samples stored over a period of months or years.
Topics: Ammonium Chloride; Antibodies; Anticoagulants; Blood Cells; Blood Platelets; Blood Specimen Collection; Cell Adhesion; Cell Fractionation; Cell Separation; Centrifugation, Density Gradient; Complement System Proteins; Cryopreservation; Erythrocytes; Humans; Indicators and Reagents; Leukocytes; Lymphocytes; Magnetic Phenomena; Microspheres; Monocytes; Plastics; Preservation, Biological; Staining and Labeling
PubMed: 26132177
DOI: 10.1002/0471142956.cy0501s73 -
Advanced Materials (Deerfield Beach,... Apr 2017Cell-membrane-coated nanoparticles have recently been studied extensively for their biological compatibility, retention of cellular properties, and adaptability to a...
Cell-membrane-coated nanoparticles have recently been studied extensively for their biological compatibility, retention of cellular properties, and adaptability to a variety of therapeutic and imaging applications. This class of nanoparticles, which has been fabricated with a variety of cell membrane coatings, including those derived from red blood cells (RBCs), platelets, white blood cells, cancer cells, and bacteria, exhibit properties that are characteristic of the source cell. In this study, a new type of biological coating is created by fusing membrane material from two different cells, providing a facile method for further enhancing nanoparticle functionality. As a proof of concept, the development of dual-membrane-coated nanoparticles from the fused RBC membrane and platelet membrane is demonstrated. The resulting particles, termed RBC-platelet hybrid membrane-coated nanoparticles ([RBC-P]NPs), are thoroughly characterized, and it is shown that they carry properties of both source cells. Further, the [RBC-P]NP platform exhibits long circulation and suitability for further in vivo exploration. The reported strategy opens the door for the creation of biocompatible, custom-tailored biomimetic nanoparticles with varying hybrid functionalities, which may be used to overcome the limitations of current nanoparticle-based therapeutic and imaging platforms.
Topics: Biomimetics; Blood Platelets; Erythrocyte Membrane; Erythrocytes; Nanoparticles
PubMed: 28199033
DOI: 10.1002/adma.201606209 -
Cells Feb 2024This Editorial 'Advances in Red Blood Cell Research' is the preface for the special issue with the same title which files 14 contributions listed in Table 1 [...].
This Editorial 'Advances in Red Blood Cell Research' is the preface for the special issue with the same title which files 14 contributions listed in Table 1 [...].
Topics: Erythrocytes
PubMed: 38391972
DOI: 10.3390/cells13040359 -
Biosensors Dec 2022A laboratory blood test is vital for assessing a patient's health and disease status. Advances in microfluidic technology have opened the door for on-chip blood... (Review)
Review
A laboratory blood test is vital for assessing a patient's health and disease status. Advances in microfluidic technology have opened the door for on-chip blood analysis. Currently, microfluidic devices can reproduce myriad routine laboratory blood tests. Considerable progress has been made in microfluidic cytometry, blood cell separation, and characterization. Along with the usual clinical parameters, microfluidics makes it possible to determine the physical properties of blood and blood cells. We review recent advances in microfluidic systems for measuring the physical properties and biophysical characteristics of blood and blood cells. Added emphasis is placed on multifunctional platforms that combine several microfluidic technologies for effective cell characterization. The combination of hydrodynamic, optical, electromagnetic, and/or acoustic methods in a microfluidic device facilitates the precise determination of various physical properties of blood and blood cells. We analyzed the physical quantities that are measured by microfluidic devices and the parameters that are determined through these measurements. We discuss unexplored problems and present our perspectives on the long-term challenges and trends associated with the application of microfluidics in clinical laboratories. We expect the characterization of the physical properties of blood and blood cells in a microfluidic environment to be considered a standard blood test in the future.
Topics: Humans; Microfluidics; Cell Separation; Lab-On-A-Chip Devices; Blood Cells; Microfluidic Analytical Techniques
PubMed: 36671848
DOI: 10.3390/bios13010013 -
FEBS Letters Dec 2019The haematopoietic system is established during embryonic life through a series of developmental steps that culminates with the generation of haematopoietic stem cells.... (Review)
Review
The haematopoietic system is established during embryonic life through a series of developmental steps that culminates with the generation of haematopoietic stem cells. Characterisation of the transcriptional network that regulates blood cell emergence has led to the identification of transcription factors essential for this process. Among the many factors wired within this complex regulatory network, ETV2, SCL and RUNX1 are the central components. All three factors are absolutely required for blood cell generation, each one controlling a precise step of specification from the mesoderm germ layer to fully functional blood progenitors. Insight into the transcriptional control of blood cell emergence has been used for devising protocols to generate blood cells de novo, either through reprogramming of somatic cells or through forward programming of pluripotent stem cells. Interestingly, the physiological process of blood cell generation and its laboratory-engineered counterpart have very little in common.
Topics: Blood Cells; Cell Differentiation; Cellular Reprogramming; Core Binding Factor Alpha 2 Subunit; Hematopoietic Stem Cells; Humans; Mesoderm; Pluripotent Stem Cells; T-Cell Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia Protein 1; Transcription Factors; Transcriptional Activation
PubMed: 31432499
DOI: 10.1002/1873-3468.13585 -
Advances in Colloid and Interface... Oct 2022In this review we aim to summarize the current state of methods for label-free identification and functional characterization of leukocytes with biosensors and novel... (Review)
Review
In this review we aim to summarize the current state of methods for label-free identification and functional characterization of leukocytes with biosensors and novel single cell techniques. The growing interest in this field is fueled from multiple directions, with the different aspects highlighting benefits of these novel technologies in comparison to classical methods. The advantage of label-free characterization is that labeling the cells might affect their behavior, and therefore lead to a biased description of the investigated biological phenomena. Label-free biosensors can offer the benefit of (i) decreasing processing time and reagent costs, (ii) enable point-of-care diagnostics, and (iii) allow downstream application of the investigated cells. Moreover, (iv) label-free detection allows the monitoring of real-time kinetic processes, opening up new avenues in contrast to traditional structural characterizations. The emphasis in the review will be on techniques on the characterizations of single cells with special attention to surface sensitive technologies. Recent developments highlighted the importance of small cell populations and individual cells both in health and disease. Nonetheless techniques capable of analyzing single cells offer a promising tool for therapeutic approaches where characterization of individual cells is necessary to estimate their clinical therapeutic potential. Most of the approaches discussed here will cover the cellular activation, adhesion as measured on functionalized solid substrates, since this approach offers the most advantages. Analyzing various cells on solid substrates not only allows their individual morphological characterization and therefore a more precise description of their activation, but as well offers an opportunity to design multiplex measurements. With this approach different stimuli can be investigated in parallel and measure cellular avidity to targets, an important aspect of gaining more and more attention recently in characterization of T-cells and antibody effector functions. Finally, novel label-free approaches provide a solution to extracting unlabeled cells for downstream processing (e.g., transcriptome analysis, cloning or the aforementioned clinical potential), where ongoing and potential further applications are discussed.
Topics: Biosensing Techniques; Blood Cells
PubMed: 36029612
DOI: 10.1016/j.cis.2022.102727 -
Genes Aug 2021The production of around 2.5 million red blood cells (RBCs) per second in erythropoiesis is one of the most intense activities in the body. It continuously consumes... (Review)
Review
The production of around 2.5 million red blood cells (RBCs) per second in erythropoiesis is one of the most intense activities in the body. It continuously consumes large amounts of iron, approximately 80% of which is recycled from aged erythrocytes. Therefore, similar to the "making", the "breaking" of red blood cells is also very rapid and represents one of the key processes in mammalian physiology. Under steady-state conditions, this important task is accomplished by specialized macrophages, mostly liver Kupffer cells (KCs) and splenic red pulp macrophages (RPMs). It relies to a large extent on the engulfment of red blood cells via so-called erythrophagocytosis. Surprisingly, we still understand little about the mechanistic details of the removal and processing of red blood cells by these specialized macrophages. We have only started to uncover the signaling pathways that imprint their identity, control their functions and enable their plasticity. Recent findings also identify other myeloid cell types capable of red blood cell removal and establish reciprocal cross-talk between the intensity of erythrophagocytosis and other cellular activities. Here, we aimed to review the multiple and emerging facets of iron recycling to illustrate how this exciting field of study is currently expanding.
Topics: Animals; Erythrocytes; Hemolysis; Humans; Iron; Kupffer Cells; Liver; Macrophages; Phagocytosis
PubMed: 34573346
DOI: 10.3390/genes12091364