Evaluating anti-sickling therapies for sickle cell disease: a microfluidic assay for red blood cell-mediated microvascular occlusion under hypoxia.

ABSTRACT: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is characterized by the polymerization of hemoglobin S (HbS) upon deoxygenation, leading to the formation of sickled red blood cells (RBCs) with reduced deformability. Under hypoxic conditions, the impaired RBC behavior significantly contributes to vaso-occlusive events, hemolysis, and end-organ damage. Consequently, RBC deformability serves as a pivotal hemorheological biomarker for evaluating disease severity and therapeutic response. The OcclusionChip, a microfluidic assay, measures RBCs deformability through microcapillary occlusion. However, its current hypoxic assay relies on a complex nitrogen gas setup, rendering it bulky, expensive, and unsuitable for point-of-care diagnostic use. Here, we optimized a chemically induced hypoxia assay using sodium metabisu

SUBMITTER: Sekyonda Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12536335 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature