Forces of RBC interaction with single endothelial cells in stationary conditions:Measurements with laser tweezers

Red blood cells(RBCs)are able to interact and communicate with endothelial cells(ECs).Under some pathological or even normal conditions,the adhesion of RBCs to the endothelium can be observed.Presently,the mechanisms and many aspects of the interaction between RBCs and ECs are not fully understood.In this work,we considered the interaction of single RBCs with single ECs in vitro aiming to quantitatively determine the force of this interaction using laser tweezers.Measurements were performed under different concentrations of proaggregant macromolecules and in the presence or absence of tumor necrosis factor(TNF-α)activating the ECs.We have shown that the strength of interaction depends on the concentration of fibrinogen or dextran proaggregant macromolecules in the environment.A nonlinear increase in the force of cells interaction(from 0.4 pN to 21 pN)was observed along with an increase in the fibrinogen con-centration(from 3 mg/mL to 9 mg/mL)in blood plasma,as well as with the addition of dextran macromolecules(from 10 mg/mL to 60 mg/mL).Dextran with a higher molecular mass(500 kDa)enhances the adhesion of RBCs to ECs greater compared to the dextran with a lower molecular mass(70 kDa).With the preliminary activation of ECs with TNF-α,the force of interaction increases.Also,the adhesion of echinocytes to EC compared to discocytes is significantly higher.These results may help to better understand the process of interaction between RBCs and ECs.

Single-cell analysis reveals microbial spore responses to microwave radiation

To determine the effects of microwave radiation at the molecular level as well as on the germination,growth and morphology of dry spores at the single-cell level.Dry Bacillus aryabhattai MCCC 1K02966 spores were microwave-treated at different powers and characterized using single-cell optical technology.As determined by laser tweezers Raman spectroscopy,the Ca^(2+)-dipicolinic acid content increased and nucleic acid denaturation occurred in response to microwave treatment.Livecell microscopy revealed that the germination and growth rates decreased as the microwave power increased.With respect to morphology,atomic force microscopy(AFM)demonstrated that spores became wrinkled and rough after microwave treatment.Furthermore,spores became smaller as the microwave power increased.Microwave treatment can damage DNA,and high-power microwaves can inhibit the germination of spores and reduce spore volumes.These results provide a new perspective on the responses of living single cells to microwave radiation and demonstrate the application of various new techniques for analyses of microorganisms at the single-cell level.

Surface tension of single suspended aerosol microdroplets

The surface tension of troposphere aerosols can significantly influence their atmospheric processes and key properties, particularly on the morphology, the phase transition, the activation as cloud condensation nuclei, and the gas-particle partitioning. However, directly measuring the surface tension of single ambient aerosol is quite challenging, due to the limitations of their picolitre volumes and thermal motion. Here, we developed a dual laser tweezers Raman spectroscopy(DLT-RS) system to directly sense the surface tension of single airborne microdroplets(PM10particles). A pair of aerosol droplets were trapped and driven to coalesce by the laser tweezers. Meanwhile, the backscattering light intensity and brightfield images during the coalescence process were recorded to characterize the aerosol surface tension. A remarkable advantage of directly sensing aerosol surface tension is that the solutes in aerosols are often supersaturated, which is common in atmospheric aerosols but almost unavailable in bulk solutions.We experimentally measured the surface tension of aerosols composed of nitrates or oxalic acid/nitrate mixture. Besides, the variation of surface tension during aerosol aging process was also explored, which brings possible implications on the surface evolution of actual ambient aerosol during their atmospheric lifetime.