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  • A microfluidic device for a...
    Man, Yuncheng; Kucukal, Erdem; Liu, Shichen; An, Ran; Goreke, Utku; Wulftange, William J.; Sekyonda, Zoe; Bode, Allison; Little, Jane A.; Manwani, Deepa; Stavrou, Evi X.; Gurkan, Umut A.

    Biosensors & bioelectronics, 02/2023, Volume: 222
    Journal Article

    Neutrophil recruitment to the inflamed endothelium is a multistep process and is of utmost importance in the development of the hallmark vaso-occlusive crisis in sickle cell disease (SCD). However, there lacks a standardized, clinically feasible approach for assessing neutrophil recruitment to the inflamed endothelium for individualized risk stratification and therapeutic response prediction in SCD. Here, we describe a microfluidic device functionalized with E-selectin, a critical endothelial receptor for the neutrophil recruitment process, as a strategy to assess neutrophil binding under physiologic flow in normoxia and clinically relevant hypoxia in SCD. We show that hypoxia significantly enhances neutrophil binding to E-selectin and promotes the formation of neutrophil-platelet aggregates. Moreover, we identified two distinct patient populations: a more severe clinical phenotype with elevated lactate dehydrogenase levels and absolute reticulocyte counts but lowered fetal hemoglobin levels associated with constitutively less neutrophil binding to E-selectin. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that the extent of neutrophil activation correlates with membrane L-selectin shedding, resulting in the loss of ligand interaction sites with E-selectin. We also show that inhibition of E-selectin significantly reduces leukocyte recruitment to activated endothelial cells. Our findings add mechanistic insight into neutrophil-endothelial interactions under hypoxia and provide a clinically feasible means for assessing neutrophil binding to E-selectin using clinical whole blood samples, which can help guide therapeutic decisions for SCD patients. •An E-selectin functionalized microfluidic device partially mimicking the inflamed endothelium is presented.•In sickle cell disease (SCD), neutrophil binding to E-selectin is mediated by L-selectin and inversely correlates with hemolysis.•Neutrophil binding to E-selectin can be used to stratify clinical phenotypes and predict therapeutic response in SCD.