Active Force Dynamics in Red Blood Cells Under Non-Invasive Optical Tweezers
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| author | Dorn, Arnau Luque-Rioja, Clara Calero, Macarena Herráez-Aguilar, Diego Monroy, Francisco Caselli, Niccolò |
| author_facet | Dorn, Arnau Luque-Rioja, Clara Calero, Macarena Herráez-Aguilar, Diego Monroy, Francisco Caselli, Niccolò |
| contents | Red blood cells (RBCs) sustain mechanical stresses associated with microcirculatory flow through ATP-driven plasma membrane flickering. This is an active phenomenon driven by motor proteins that regulate interactions between the spectrin cytoskeleton and the lipid bilayer; it is manifested in RBC shape fluctuations reflecting the cell's mechanical and metabolic state. Yet, direct quantification of the forces and energetic costs underlying this non-equilibrium behavior remains challenging due to the invasiveness of existing techniques. Here, a minimally invasive method that combines bead-free, low-power optical tweezers with high-speed video microscopy was employed to track local membrane forces and displacements in single RBCs during the same time window. This independent dual-channel measurement enabled the construction of a mechano-dynamic phase space for RBCs under different chemical treatments, that allowed for differentiating between metabolic and structural states based on their fluctuation-force signatures. Quantification of mechanical work during flickering demonstrated that membrane softening enhanced fluctuations while elevating energy dissipation. The proposed optical tweezers methodology provides a robust framework for mapping the active mechanics of living cells, enabling precise probing of cellular physiology and detection of biomechanical dysfunction in diseases. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_01417 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Active Force Dynamics in Red Blood Cells Under Non-Invasive Optical Tweezers Dorn, Arnau Luque-Rioja, Clara Calero, Macarena Herráez-Aguilar, Diego Monroy, Francisco Caselli, Niccolò Biological Physics Biomolecules Cell Behavior Subcellular Processes Red blood cells (RBCs) sustain mechanical stresses associated with microcirculatory flow through ATP-driven plasma membrane flickering. This is an active phenomenon driven by motor proteins that regulate interactions between the spectrin cytoskeleton and the lipid bilayer; it is manifested in RBC shape fluctuations reflecting the cell's mechanical and metabolic state. Yet, direct quantification of the forces and energetic costs underlying this non-equilibrium behavior remains challenging due to the invasiveness of existing techniques. Here, a minimally invasive method that combines bead-free, low-power optical tweezers with high-speed video microscopy was employed to track local membrane forces and displacements in single RBCs during the same time window. This independent dual-channel measurement enabled the construction of a mechano-dynamic phase space for RBCs under different chemical treatments, that allowed for differentiating between metabolic and structural states based on their fluctuation-force signatures. Quantification of mechanical work during flickering demonstrated that membrane softening enhanced fluctuations while elevating energy dissipation. The proposed optical tweezers methodology provides a robust framework for mapping the active mechanics of living cells, enabling precise probing of cellular physiology and detection of biomechanical dysfunction in diseases. |
| title | Active Force Dynamics in Red Blood Cells Under Non-Invasive Optical Tweezers |
| topic | Biological Physics Biomolecules Cell Behavior Subcellular Processes |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.01417 |