The ability of cells to undergo reversible shape changes is often crucial to
their survival. For Red Blood Cells (RBCs), irreversible alteration of the cell
shape and flexibility often causes anemia. Here we show theoretically that RBCs
may react irreversibly to mechanical perturbations because of tensile stress in
their cytoskeleton. The transient polymerization of protein fibers inside the
cell seen in sickle cell anemia or a transient external force can trigger the
formation of a cytoskeleton-free membrane protrusion of micrometer dimensions.
The complex relaxation kinetics of the cell shape is shown to be responsible
for selecting the final state once the perturbation is removed, thereby
controlling the reversibility of the deformation. In some case, tubular
protrusion are expected to relax via a peculiar "pearling instability".Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure