Red blood cell

Red blood cells
3D rendering of human red blood cells (c. 6–8 μm in diameter)
Details
FunctionOxygen transport
Identifiers
Acronym(s)RBC
MeSHD004912
THH2.00.04.1.01001
FMA62845
Anatomical terms of microanatomy

Red blood cells (RBCs), referred to as erythrocytes (from Ancient Greek erythros 'red' and kytos 'hollow vessel', with -cyte translated as 'cell' in modern usage) in academia and medical publishing, also known as red cells,[1] erythroid cells, and rarely haematids, are the most common type of blood cell and the vertebrate's principal means of delivering oxygen (O2) to the body tissues—via blood flow through the circulatory system.[2] Erythrocytes take up oxygen in the lungs, or in fish the gills, and release it into tissues while squeezing through the body's capillaries.

The cytoplasm of a red blood cell is rich in hemoglobin (Hb), an iron-containing biomolecule that can bind oxygen and is responsible for the red color of the cells and the blood. Each human red blood cell contains approximately 270 million hemoglobin molecules.[3] The cell membrane is composed of proteins and lipids, and this structure provides properties essential for physiological cell function such as deformability and stability of the blood cell while traversing the circulatory system and specifically the capillary network.

In humans, mature red blood cells are flexible biconcave disks. They lack a cell nucleus (which is expelled during development) and organelles, to accommodate maximum space for hemoglobin; they can be viewed as sacks of hemoglobin, with a plasma membrane as the sack. Approximately 2.4 million new erythrocytes are produced per second in human adults.[4] The cells develop in the bone marrow and circulate for about 100–120 days in the body before their components are recycled by macrophages. Each circulation takes about 60 seconds (one minute).[5] Approximately 84% of the cells in the human body are the 20–30 trillion red blood cells.[6][7][8][9] Nearly half of the blood's volume (40% to 45%) is red blood cells.

Packed red blood cells are red blood cells that have been donated, processed, and stored in a blood bank for blood transfusion.

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  2. ^ "Blood Cells". Archived from the original on 23 July 2016.
  3. ^ D'Alessandro A, Dzieciatkowska M, Nemkov T, Hansen KC (March 2017). "Red blood cell proteomics update: is there more to discover?". Blood Transfusion = Trasfusione del Sangue. 15 (2): 182–187. doi:10.2450/2017.0293-16. PMC 5336341. PMID 28263177.
  4. ^ Erich Sackmann, Biological Membranes Architecture and Function., Handbook of Biological Physics, (ed. R.Lipowsky and E.Sackmann, vol.1, Elsevier, 1995
  5. ^ Blom JA (2003). Monitoring of Respiration and Circulation. CRC Press. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-203-50328-7.
  6. ^ Hatton IA, Galbraith ED, Merleau NS, Miettinen TP, Smith BM, Shander JA (September 2023). "The human cell count and size distribution". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 120 (39): e2303077120. Bibcode:2023PNAS..12003077H. doi:10.1073/pnas.2303077120. PMC 10523466. PMID 37722043.
  7. ^ Sender R, Fuchs S, Milo R (August 2016). "Revised Estimates for the Number of Human and Bacteria Cells in the Body". PLOS Biology. 14 (8): e1002533. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1002533. PMC 4991899. PMID 27541692.
  8. ^ Dean L (2005). Blood Groups and Red Cell Antigens. National Center for Biotechnology Information (US).
  9. ^ Pierigè F, Serafini S, Rossi L, Magnani M (January 2008). "Cell-based drug delivery". Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews. 60 (2): 286–295. doi:10.1016/j.addr.2007.08.029. PMID 17997501.