The microorganism effect on the erythrocyte morphofunctional parameters and the hemoglobin oxygen- binding capacity

Abstract

When bacteria interact with red blood cells, the plasma membrane receives signals from the microorganism adhesins, and the functional work of the erythrocyte as a whole depends on the biomembrane phospholipid condition. However, the microorganism effect on the structural and functional properties of the red blood cell membrane, as well as on the hemoglobin oxygen-binding ability has not been studied enough. Given the foregoing, we sought to study these issues in our work. The study used the “bacteria–red blood cells” model, using archival microbial strains (Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Mycolicibacterium rutilum and M. iranicum) from the Institute of Cellular and Intracellular Symbiosis, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and donor erythrocytes. The structural and functional properties of the RBC membrane phospholipids and the spectral characteristics of the hemoglobin molecule were studied using the Raman scattering spectroscopy. To study changes in the red blood cell morphology under the microorganism effect, the laser interference microscopy was used. The work results showed that various types of microorganisms affected the conformational structure of the RBC membrane phospholipid bond, which contributed to changes in the morphological characteristics of cells, resulting in functional changes in both the red blood cell as a whole and the main RBC oxygen transport protein - hemoglobin.