Scientists at the Universities of California and Michigan have developed soft and flexible artificial cells that mimic the key characteristics and functions of red blood cells or red blood cells .
They are called RCBs and, like red blood cells, their main function is the transport of oxygen . In addition, they are capable of transferring medications in an effective and controlled manner. "This ability to create biomimetic transports as therapeutic and diagnostic agents opens up many new possibilities," explained chemical engineer Samir Mitragotri, co-author of the study published today in the journal PNAS .
To create the artificial red blood cells, Mitragotri and his colleagues at the University of Michigan used a polymer that they coated with nine layers of hemoglobin and other proteins. By extracting the polymer that served as a template, they obtained "donut-shaped" particles, which were the same size and could carry as much oxygen as red blood cells. In addition, their flexibility allowed them to pass through channels smaller than their diameter and regain their original shape, just like red blood cells.
Among the diseases that could be cured with these synthetic cells, anemia and hereditary elliptocytosis stand out , a disorder in which red blood cells alter their circular shape and lead to what is called hemolytic anemia.
