Red blood cell passage through deformable interendothelial slits in the spleen: Insights into splenic filtration and hemodynamics

The spleen constantly clears altered red blood cells (RBCs) from the circulation, tuning the balance between RBC formation (erythropoiesis) and removal. The retention and elimination of RBCs occur predominantly in the open circulation of the spleen, where RBCs must cross submicron-wide inter-endothelial slits (IES). Several experimental and computational studies have illustrated the role of IES in filtrating the biomechanically and morphologically altered RBCs based on a rigid wall assumption. However, these studies also reported that when the size of IES is close to the lower end of clinically observed sizes (less than 0.5 μm), an unphysiologically large pressure difference across the IES is required to drive the passage of normal RBCs, sparking debates on the feasibility of the rigid wall assumption. In this work, We propose two deformable IES models, namely the passive model and the active model, aiming to explore the impact of the deformability of IES on the filtration function of the spleen. In the passive model, we implement the worm-like string model to depict the IES's deformation as it interacts with blood plasma and allows RBC to traverse. In contrast, the active model involved regulating the IES deformation based on the local pressure surrounding the slit. To demonstrate the validity of the deformable model, we simulate the filtration of RBCs with varied size and stiffness by IES under three scenarios: (1) a single RBC traversing a single slit; (2) a suspension of RBCs traversing an array of slits, mimicking in vitro spleen-on-a-chip experiments; (3) RBC suspension passing through the 3D spleen filtration unit known as'the splenon'. Our simulation results of RBC passing through a single slit show that the deformable IES model offers more accurate predictions of the critical cell surface area to volume ratio that dictate the removal of aged RBCs from circulation compared to prior rigid-wall models. Our biophysical models of the spleen-on-a-chip indicate a hierarchy of filtration function stringency: rigid model > passive model > active model, providing a possible explanation of the filtration function of IES. We also illustrate that the biophysical model of 'the splenon' enables us to replicate the ex vivo experiments involving spleen filtration of malaria-infected RBCs. Taken together, our simulation findings indicate that the deformable IES model could serve as a mesoscopic representation of spleen filtration function closer to physiological reality, addressing questions beyond the scope of current experimental and computational models and enhancing our understanding of the fundamental flow dynamics and mechanical clearance processes within in the human spleen.