The growing world population and increasing life expectancy are driving the need to improve the quality of blood transfusion, organ transplantation, and preservation. Here, to improve the ability of red blood cells (RBCs) for normothermic machine perfusion, a biocompatible blood silicification approach termed “shielding-augmenting RBC-in-nanoscale amorphous silica (SARNAS)” has been developed. The key to RBC surface engineering and structure augmentation is the precise control of the hydrolysis form of silicic acid to realize stabilization of RBC within conformal nanoscale silica-based exoskeletons. The formed silicified RBCs (Si-RBCs) maintain membrane/structural integrity, normal cellular functions (e.g., metabolism, oxygen-carrying capability), and enhance resistance to external stressors as well as tunable mechanical properties, resulting in nearly 100% RBC cryoprotection. In vivo experiments confirm their excellent biocompatibility. By shielding RBC surface antigens, the Si-RBCs provide universal blood compatibility, the ability for allogeneic mechanical perfusion, and more importantly, the possibility for cross-species transfusion. Being simple, reliable, and easily scalable, the SARNAS strategy holds great promise to revolutionize the use of engineered blood for future clinical applications.

中文翻译：

---

通过生物相容性血液硅化改善常温机器灌注和输血


世界人口的增长和预期寿命的延长推动了提高输血、器官移植和保存质量的需求。为了提高红细胞（RBC）常温机器灌注的能力，开发了一种生物相容性血液硅化方法，称为“纳米级无定形二氧化硅（SARNAS）中的屏蔽增强红细胞”。红细胞表面工程和结构增强的关键是精确控制硅酸的水解形式，以实现红细胞在保形纳米级二氧化硅外骨骼内的稳定。形成的硅化红细胞（Si-RBC）可维持膜/结构完整性、正常细胞功能（例如新陈代谢、携氧能力），并增强对外部应激源的抵抗力以及可调节的机械性能，从而实现近 100% 的红细胞冷冻保护。体内实验证实了它们优异的生物相容性。通过屏蔽红细胞表面抗原，Si-RBC提供了通用的血液相容性、同种异体机械灌注的能力，更重要的是，提供了跨物种输血的可能性。 SARNAS 策略简单、可靠且易于扩展，有望彻底改变工程血液在未来临床应用中的使用。