Analysis of nanostructure of red blood cells membranes by space Fourier transform of AFM images

Abstract

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) allows a researcher to obtain images of red blood cells (RBC) and their membranes. Various effects on blood lead to surface alterations of cell membranes. Such alterations are estimated by a corrugation of membrane surface. This problem is complicated for statistical analysis because the membrane is the ensemble of structures with different sizes. In the present work we used the space Fourier transform to decompose the complex AFM image of the surface into three simpler ones. The parameters of spectral windows were selected according to the natural structures of RBC membranes. This method allowed us to obtain high resolution images for the corresponding spectral windows, to establish specificity of alterations from each effect, to estimate quantitatively the membrane nanostructures at different space scales and to compare their sizes statistically after actions of different agents. The blood intoxication was modeled by adding hemin, furosemide, chlorpromazine and zinc ions into blood, in vitro.