Healthy red blood cells owe their shape to muscle-like structures Discovery by Scripps Research scientists may offer insight into treating blood disorders such as sickle cell anemia
Left to right: Researchers Velia Fowler, Alyson Smith and Roberta Nowak led the new study at The Scripps Research Institute (Photo by Don Boomer)
LA JOLLA, CA April 4, 2018 Red blood cells are on a wild ride. As they race through the body to deliver oxygen, they must maintain a distinct dimpled shape and bounce back into form even after squishing through narrow capillaries. Red blood cells that can't keep their shape are associated with diseases like sickle cell anemia.
In a new study, Velia Fowler, PhD, and her lab at The Scripps Research Institute report that a protein called myosin IIA contracts to give red blood cells their distinctive shape. The findings, published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could shed light on sickle cell diseases and other disorders where red blood cells are deformed.
Red blood cells have been studied for centuries, but there are still a lot of unanswered questions about how they adopt their shape, says Alyson Smith, graduate student at Scripps Research and co-first author of the study. Our study adds an important piece to this puzzle.
Red blood cells look like puffy disks with concave dimples on top and bottom. But the blood cells of people with certain disorders take on other shapes. In severe forms of sickle cell diseases, genetic disorders most common among people of African descent, the cells are shaped like crescent moons or sickles.
These misshapen cells are rigid and sticky, causing them to become stuck in blood vessels, which prevent the blood from carrying oxygen throughout the body, causing anemia. About 300,000 children are born with sickle cell anemia each year, and there is currently no cure for these disorders.
Scientists have long wondered how healthy red blood cells maintain their dimpled shape, and whether it is a passive or active process. Are they just like rubber inner tubes that passively bounce back to their former shape after being squeezed or bumped? Or is something mechanical in the cell membrane the outer skin of the cell actively contracting and relaxing to maintain the shape? Answering these questions could also help explain what goes wrong when red blood cells are too rigid to deform easily as they flow through blood vessels.
Smith and Roberta Nowak, a research assistant, led the work to solve this puzzle, which had piqued Fowler's interest since she was a postdoctoral researcher in the 1980s. They found that red blood cells actively regulate their shape, thanks to myosin IIA which is related to the protein that drives muscle contraction in other parts of the body.
The team used advanced microscopes at Scripps Research to capture 3D images showing myosin IIA under the cell membrane. The researchers found that red blood cell myosin IIA molecules assemble into barbell-shaped structures called filaments. Specialized regions at both ends of the myosin IIA filaments can pull on a membrane-associated structural protein called actin to control the stiffness of the cell membrane.
You need active contraction on the cell membrane, similar to how muscles contract, says Fowler. The myosin pulls on the actin to provide tension in the membrane, and then that tension maintains the biconcave shape.
The team then treated red blood cells with a compound called blebbistatin, which stops myosin from working properly. They found that the treated cells lost their ability to maintain a shape and looked floppy and unhealthy. This further confirmed that myosin IIA is important for maintain red blood cell shape.
Understanding the architecture of the membrane is an important step toward finding the causes of diseases where red blood cells are deformed. Fowler says there might be a chance someday to inhibit myosin IIA in red blood cells and restore some of elasticity they lose in sickle cell anemia, letting them bend and fit through capillaries.
Even just a small change in those sickle cells might be enough, says Nowak, who served as study co-first author with Smith.
This view of red blood cell shape has sparked many new questions. The study suggests that cells use a process called phosphorylation to make the myosin IIA filaments on the cell membrane more stable but how this process is controlled remains a mystery. Going forward, the researchers hope to learn more about what regulates myosin IIA's activity in red blood cells and even other cell types, like neurons.
The study, Myosin IIA interacts with the spectrin-actin membrane skeleton to control red blood cell membrane curvature and deformability, included authors from the Rochester Institute of Technology, The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra-Northwell.
The work was supported by the Whitaker Foundation, the National Institutes of Health (grants GM34225, HL083464, HL134043 and HL126497), a National Science Foundation award (CBET 1560709), the NIH/NCATS CTSA Award (grant UL1 TR001114) to the Scripps Translational Science Institute, and an Allied World St. Baldrick's Scholar Award.
About The Scripps Research Institute
The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) is one of the worlds largest independent, not-for-profit organizations focusing on research in the biomedical sciences. TSRI is internationally recognized for its contributions to science and health, including its role in laying the foundation for new treatments for cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, hemophilia, and other diseases. An institution that evolved from the Scripps Metabolic Clinic founded by philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps in 1924, the institute now employs more
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
04/06/2026
Sony Electronics is introducing the SRG-AS10, a 4K 60p-compatible PTZ auto-frami...
04/06/2026
This recent grad from Spring, TX, led creative-video output for the Aggies' men's basketball team last season and has been producing video and creating ...
04/06/2026
For the first time at a women's golf major, every player in the field will r...
04/06/2026
Three Panasonic PT-RQ45 40,000-lumen 3-Chip DLP projectors made their first live...
04/06/2026
Bitmovin and Akamai have announced a collaboration with NRJ Group, a French mult...
04/06/2026
Telestream will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N7952), demonstrating media work...
04/06/2026
Sony has announced the development of RIALTO 65, a 65mm format image sensor block for the VENICE 2 digital cinema camera, targeting release in the first half of...
04/06/2026
KOKUSAI DENKI Electric America will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N8025, June ...
04/06/2026
Bell Media's TSN and RDS are the exclusive Canadian broadcasters of FIFA Wor...
04/06/2026
The Challenge: Receiving Heavy Media Files From Road Games Quickly and ReliablyT...
04/06/2026
MASV, a managed file transfer platform used in broadcast and live sports product...
04/06/2026
NESN has announced the appointment of Fahad Haider as Vice President of Operations and Engineering. Haider returns to NESN, where he previously served as Vice P...
04/06/2026
David J. Halberstam, who spent almost 50 years in sports as a broadcaster and an executive, died June 2 after a years-long battle with brain cancer.
Over his l...
04/06/2026
Although collegiate production programs are tasked with delivering high-quality ...
04/06/2026
California studio, two production trucks, global distribution system are combine...
04/06/2026
New global program empowers and supports storytellers through scriptwriting course and access to industry experts
TikTok and Sundance Institute today announce...
04/06/2026
Steinberg DAWs now boast in-depth Tonalic integration
Celemony's innovative virtual session musician plug-in has just received an update that brings ARA...
04/06/2026
Get Hands-On With Over 20 Mic Brands
GearExpo UK is fast approaching, and if you've been looking for a chance to check out some new mics, then you'r...
04/06/2026
Combos feature new Amplifier Intelligence engine
Positive Grid's latest release sees the company introduce two new combo amplifiers that promise to offe...
04/06/2026
Is Your Job Making You Work this June?
4 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS Launches the World Cup Watchers' Rights Association to Stand Up For Australians&...
04/06/2026
Statement regarding unauthorised use of SBS logos on third party social content
4 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS has become aware of social media posts in c...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Bitmovin, a leading provider of video streaming infrastructure, and Akamai, the cybersecurity and cloud computing company that powers and protects business onli...
04/06/2026
American Underground (AU), the Startup Hub of the South and a community of mor...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
NVIDIA and Microsoft Reinvent Windows PCs for the Age of Personal AI
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
RTX Spark - a 1-Petaflop Superchip, the Full...
04/06/2026
Inside the Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man Grade
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
Simone Grattarola discusses shaping the look in DaVinci Resolve...
04/06/2026
Cine Gear Expo Announces 2026 Awards of Excellence Recipients
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
Ed Lachman ASC, Caleb Deschanel ASC, and M. David M...
04/06/2026
St. Vincents Live with Orchestra Tour to Feature Berklee Alum Ruby Plume Berklee alumni St. Vincent and Ruby Plume will appear on the same bill across seven d...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
All the Truth in My Lies Coming to Netflix on August 28
Entertainment
04 June 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Download the imag...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
Larry Tanz, VP of Content, EMEA, Delivers a Keynote Speech at ...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
Turn Your Living Room into a Stadium With the New FIFA World ...
04/06/2026
Keeping conversations real on LinkedIn Published on Jun 4, 2026 Categories: Product News
LinkedIn Corporate Communications
Share
LinkedIn
Facebook ...
04/06/2026
BackStory follows four Irish young people as they travel back to their parents' homelands
Modern Irish identity is enriched by cultures and influences from...
04/06/2026
June's forecast with GeForce NOW: 100% chance of gaming.
GeForce NOW is lining up new adventures for the month, from big-name blockbusters to quirky indies...
03/06/2026
SES and Viva, Mexico's ultra low-cost airline, have launched multi-orbit satellite inflight connectivity on Viva's Airbus aircraft. A total of 60 A320s ...
03/06/2026
The College Football Playoff, ESPN, and TNT Sports have announced kick times and...
03/06/2026
RED Digital Cinema will exhibit at Cine Gear Expo 2026 (Booth 33, June 5-6, Universal Studios Lot), hosting three panels and hands-on product demonstrations.
P...
03/06/2026
Roku has announced the Soccer Zone, a dedicated hub for FIFA World Cup 2026 content available across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argent...
Healthy red blood cells owe their shape to muscle-like structures Discovery by Scripps Research scientists may offer insight into treating blood disorders such as sickle cell anemia 
