This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Sun, C. Articles by Munn, L. L. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Sun, C. Articles by Munn, L. L.

Red Blood Cells Initiate Leukocyte Rolling in Postcapillary Expansions: A Lattice Boltzmann Analysis

Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts

Correspondence: Address reprint requests to Lance L. Munn, Dept. of Radiation Oncology, Mass. General Hospital, 3409 Bldg. 149, Charlestown, MA 02129. Tel.: 617-726-4085; Fax: 617-726-1962; E-mail: lance{at}steele.mgh.harvard.edu.

Leukocyte rolling on the vascular endothelium requires initial contact between leukocytes circulating in the blood and the vessel wall. Although specific adhesion mechanisms are involved in leukocyte-endothelium interactions, adhesion patterns in vivo suggest other rheological mechanisms also play a role. Previous studies have proposed that the abundance of leukocyte rolling in postcapillary venules is due to interactions between red blood cells (RBCs) and leukocytes as they enter postcapillary expansions, but the details of the fluid dynamics have not been elucidated. We have analyzed the interactions of red and white blood cells as they flow from a capillary into a postcapillary venule using a lattice Boltzmann approach. This technique provides the complete solution of the flow field and quantification of the particle-particle forces in a relevant geometry. Our results show that capillary-postcapillary venule diameter ratio, RBC configuration, and RBC shape are critical determinants of the initiation of cell rolling in postcapillary venules. The model predicts that an optimal configuration of the trailing red blood cells is required to drive the white blood cell to the wall.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. Sun and L. L. Munn Particulate Nature of Blood Determines Macroscopic Rheology: A 2-D Lattice Boltzmann Analysis Biophys. J., March 1, 2005; 88(3): 1635 - 1645. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]