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Effect of Bovine Serum Albumin on Red Blood Cell Optical Anisotropy Probed Through the Optomechanical Response in an Optical Trap
Author(s) -
Praveen Parthasarathi,
Rekha Selvan,
Chetana Devarkonda,
Iyengar Shruthi S.,
Bhattacharya Sarbari,
Ananthamurthy Sharath
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
macromolecular symposia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.257
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-3900
pISSN - 1022-1360
DOI - 10.1002/masy.201600209
Subject(s) - bovine serum albumin , anisotropy , biophysics , birefringence , chemistry , red blood cell , albumin , optical tweezers , materials science , optics , physics , biology , biochemistry
The dynamics of trapped entities in an Optical Trap (OT) can yield information with regards to their viscoelastic response as well as optical anisotropy, if any. Detailed analysis of such dynamics correlated with parameters which affect the response can yield additional clues to the exact effect of these on the trapped entities. In this work, we illustrate this point by showing how the altered behavior of Red Blood Cells (RBC) treated with Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) yields information about the nature of action of BSA, on which there is no current consensus in literature. We conclude from our studies that BSA treatment leads to a change in the birefringence of the RBCs, a conclusion arrived at from the altered optomechanical response of such cells in a linearly polarized Gaussian beam OT. Furthermore, we argue that the observed changes in cellular optical anisotropy may be thought of as due to changes in the curvature of the RBC membrane. We also note that BSA action could help mimic pathological conditions that result in an altered cell shape.