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A biconcave disc model of a discocyte

A biconcave disc — also referred to as a discocyte^[1] — is a geometric shape resembling an oblate spheroid with two concavities on the top and on the bottom.

Biconcave discs appear in the study of cell biology, where it is meta-stable, and involves the continuous adjustment of the asymmetric transbilayer lipid distribution, which is correlated with ATP depletion.^[2]

Mathematical model

A biconcave disc can be described mathematically by

z(r)=D{\sqrt {1-{\frac {4r^{2)){D^{2))))}\left(a_{0}+{\frac {a_{1}r^{2)){D^{2))}+{\frac {a_{2}r^{4)){D^{4))}\right)

where $z(r)$ is the height of the surface as a function of radius $r$ , $D$ is the diameter of the disc, and $a 0, a 1, a 2$ are coefficients describing the shape. The above model describes a smooth surface; actual cells can be much more irregular.

Biology

Erythrocytes are in the shape of a biconcave disc. An erythrocyte is also known as a red blood cell and transports oxygen to and from tissues. ^[1]^[3]

Mathematical model

Biology

References