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Immunostaining-Based Detection of Dynamic Alterations in Red Blood Cell Proteins
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Red blood cell population dynamics

John M Higgins1

  • 1Department of Pathology and Center for Systems Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, 185 Cambridge Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.

Clinics in Laboratory Medicine
|February 14, 2015
PubMed

Hematology analyzers provide a static snapshot of the circulating population of red blood cells (RBCs). The RBC population is rapidly changing, with more than 2 million RBCs turning over every second in the typical healthy adult. The static snapshot provided by the complete blood count does not capture many of the dynamic aspects of this population, such as the rate of RBC maturation and the rate of RBC turnover. By integrating basic science with hematology analyzer measurements, it is possible to estimate the rates of these dynamic processes, yielding new insights into human physiology, with potential diagnostic application.

Keywords:
Diagnostic applicationsMathematical modelingPersonalized medicinePredictive medicineRBC life spanRBC turnoverRed blood cell population dynamicsSingle-RBC measurements

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