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A biconcave disc — also referred to as a discocyte — is a geometric shape resembling an
oblate spheroid A spheroid, also known as an ellipsoid of revolution or rotational ellipsoid, is a quadric surface obtained by rotating an ellipse about one of its principal axes; in other words, an ellipsoid with two equal semi-diameters. A spheroid has ci ...
with two concavities on the top and on the bottom. Biconcave discs appear in the study of
cell biology Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living an ...
, where it is
meta-stable In chemistry and physics, metastability denotes an intermediate energetic state within a dynamical system other than the system's state of least energy. A ball resting in a hollow on a slope is a simple example of metastability. If the ball ...
, and involves the continuous adjustment of the asymmetric transbilayer lipid distribution, which is correlated with ATP depletion. __TOC__


Mathematical model

A biconcave disc can be described mathematically by :z(r) = D \sqrt \left(a_0 + \frac + \frac \right) where is the height of the surface as a function of radius , is the diameter of the disc, and are coefficients describing the shape. The above model describes a smooth surface; actual cells can be much more irregular.


Biology

Erythrocytes Red blood cells (RBCs), also referred to as red cells, red blood corpuscles (in humans or other animals not having nucleus in red blood cells), haematids, erythroid cells or erythrocytes (from Greek ''erythros'' for "red" and ''kytos'' for "holl ...
are in the shape of a biconcave disc. A erythrocyte is also known as a red blood cell and transports oxygen to and from tissues.


References

Cell biology Geometric shapes {{biology-stub