Self-Sorting of White Blood Cells in a Lattice

Abstract

When a drop of human blood containing red and white blood cells is forced to move via hydrodynamic forces in a lattice of channels designed to mimic the capillary channels, the white cells self-fractionate into the different types of white cells. The pattern of white cells that forms is due to a combination of stretch-activated adhesion of cells with the walls, stochastic sticking probabilities, and heteroavoidance between granulocytes and lymphocytes.