Biology:Biconcave disc
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A biconcave disc — also referred to as a discocyte[1] — is a geometric shape resembling an oblate spheroid with two concavities on the top and on the bottom.
Biconcave discs appear in the study of cell biology, where it is meta-stable, and involves the continuous adjustment of the asymmetric transbilayer lipid distribution, which is correlated with ATP depletion.[2]
Mathematical model
A biconcave disc can be described mathematically by
- [math]\displaystyle{ z(r) = D \sqrt{1 - \frac{4r^2}{D^2}} \left(a_0 + \frac{a_1 r^2}{D^2} + \frac{a_2 r^4}{D^4} \right) }[/math]
where z(r) is the height of the surface as a function of radius r, D is the diameter of the disc, and a0, a1, a2 are coefficients describing the shape. The above model describes a smooth surface; actual cells can be much more irregular.
Biology
Erythrocytes are in the shape of a biconcave disc. An erythrocyte is also known as a red blood cell and transports oxygen to and from tissues. [1][3]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kuchel, Philip W.; Fackerell, Edward D. (1999). "Parametric-equation representation of biconcave erythrocytes" (in en). Bulletin of Mathematical Biology 61 (2): 209–220. doi:10.1006/bulm.1998.0064. ISSN 1522-9602. PMID 17883208.
- ↑ Pages, Guilhem; Yau, Tsz W.; Kuchel, Philip W. (2010). "Erythrocyte shape reversion from echinocytes to discocytes: Kinetics via fast-measurement NMR diffusion-diffraction" (in en). Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 64 (3): 645–652. doi:10.1002/mrm.22457. PMID 20806372.
- ↑ Muñoz, Sagrario; Sebastián, José L.; Sancho, Miguel F.; Álvarez, Gabriel (2014-03-01). "Elastic energy of the discocyte–stomatocyte transformation". Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Biomembranes 1838 (3): 950–956. doi:10.1016/j.bbamem.2013.10.020. ISSN 0005-2736. PMID 24192054.
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