Agglomerate (medicine)
Agglomerate ( Latin: agglomerare , ' ball together', 'pile up') is what medicine calls a reversible agglomeration of blood cells .
Agglomerates of blood cells
In medicine, the term agglomerate is used in particular for the agglomeration of erythrocytes (red blood cells). An agglomeration occurs due to adhesion , which is mediated by the surface structures of the cells, especially proteins (see also agglutinins ). A collection of agglomerated cells is also known as an aggregate .
Examples of cell agglomerates are the so-called “ roll formation ” of erythrocytes or the thrombocyte aggregation of blood platelets .