Stimulation of human red blood cells leads to Ca2+-mediated   intercellular adhesion
  Red blood cells (RBCs) are a major component of blood clots, which form physiologically as a response to injury or pathologically in thrombosis. The active participation of RBCs in thrombus solidification has been previously proposed but not yet experimentally proven. Holographic optical tweezers and single-cell force spectroscopy were used to study potential cell-cell adhesion between RBCs. Irreversible intercellular adhesion of RBCs could be induced by stimulation with lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), a compound known to be released by activated platelets. We identified Ca2+ as an essential player in the signaling cascade by directly inducing Ca2+ influx using A23187. Elevation of the internal Ca2+ concentration leads to an intercellular adhesion of RBCs similar to that induced by LPA stimulation. Using single-cell force spectroscopy, the adhesion of the RBCs was identified to be approximately 100 pN, a value large enough to be of significance inside a blood clot or in pathological situations like the vasco-occlusive crisis in sickle cell disease patients. 
Patrick Steffen, Achim Jung, Duc Bach Nguyen, Torsten M\"uller, Ingolf   Bernhardt, Lars Kaestner, and Christian Wagner
physics.bio-ph q-bio.TO