β-Aescin is a natural additive employed for treatments of vascular insufficiency, hence its impact in red blood cell (RBC)'s adaptivity has been conjectured. Here, we report a study about the mechanical impact of the membrane stiffener aescin on the flickering motions of live RBCs maintained at the homeostatic status. An active flickering, or nonequilibrium fluctuation dynamics has been revealed by mapping flickering motions in single RBCs treated or not with aescin. Experiments show that active RBC flickers adapt mechanically to β-escin, unlike the passive thermal fluctuations observed in lipid bilayers without an active skeleton. Mechanical connections for active flickering are theoretically argued to exist between an effective viscoelastic softness bestowed by the spectrin membrane cytoskeleton and the observed stiffness imposed by aescin as a rigidity modulator. From the unveiled diffusive mechanics, we model an adaptive RBC homeostasis that recapitulates the active flickering phenomenon as an optimal membrane softness upon a regulated friction as observed under aescin-induced membrane hardening. From a physiological perspective, RBC flicker adaptiveness to rigidization is discussed according to regulatory principles of energy conservation and minimal dissipation.

中文翻译：

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红细胞闪烁对固体状生物表面活性剂 β-Aescin 的外源性膜硬化的机械适应性。


β-七叶素是一种用于治疗血管功能不全的天然添加剂，因此推测它对红细胞 （RBC） 适应性的影响。在这里，我们报告了一项关于膜增强剂 aescin 对维持稳态状态的活红细胞闪烁运动的机械影响的研究。通过映射用 aescin 处理或未处理的单个红细胞中的闪烁运动，揭示了主动的闪烁或非平衡波动动力学。实验表明，活性 RBC 闪烁机械地适应 β-escin，这与在没有活性骨架的脂质双层中观察到的被动热波动不同。理论上认为，主动闪烁的机械连接存在于血影蛋白膜细胞骨架赋予的有效粘弹性柔软度与观察到的 aescin 作为刚性调节剂施加的刚度之间。从揭开的扩散力学中，我们模拟了一种适应性 RBC 稳态，该稳态将活跃的闪烁现象概括为在 aescin 诱导的膜硬化下观察到的调节摩擦下的最佳膜柔软度。从生理学的角度来看，根据能量守恒和最小耗散的调节原则讨论了 RBC 闪烁对刚性化的适应性。