INFLUENCE OF CELL CONFIGURATION AND POTENTIAL ENERGY EQUILIBRIA IN ROULEAU PHENOMENA

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Abstract
It can be shown that the mutual attraction between red cells is strongest when they face each other in the flat parallel disc position, so that rouleau formation is energetically the mont favored configuration for red cell aggregation. Nevertheless, rouleaux can only be stabilized through interaction with large asymmetrical polymers; the most plausible mechanism for that interaction is polymer binding. It can also be demonstrated that the segregated rouleau formation observed in interspecies (e.g., human and rabbit) red cell populations is due to differences in the energies of attraction at the secondary minima of cells of different species. Finally, it Is argued that the formation of double and triplet clusters among isolated lymphocytes is due to the same mechanism that causes rouleaux in red cells. However, no polymers are required for the consolidation of lymphocyte clusters: it is probable that the microvilli protruding from these cells fulfill the same stabilizing function as asymmetrical polymers.