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Geometric, osmotic, and membrane mechanical properties of density-
separated human red cells
O Linderkamp and HJ Meiselman
Although there is evidence that the deformability of the entire red blood
cell (RBC) decreases during aging, reports on changes in relevant specific
properties associated with the aging process are limited and not in total
agreement. The purpose of this study was to evaluate some of the factors
that might contribute to this decreased deformability. Geometric, osmotic,
and membrane mechanical properties of unfractionated, top ("young") and
bottom ("old") RBC from 5 healthy adult donors were measured using
micropipette techniques. Surface area, volume, and diameter of RBC were
measured at osmolalities of 297, 254, 202, and 153 mosm/kg. Two membrane
mechanical properties, surface shear modulus of elasticity (mu) and time
constant (tc) of viscoelastic recovery, were studied only in isotonic
media. At each of the osmolalities, volume and surface area of the bottom
cells were about 25% lower than those of the top cells. Bottom cells showed
smaller increases in volume with decreasing osmolality than top cells; the
surface area remained constant with changing osmolality for all three
groups. The surface area-to-volume ratio and the minimum cylindrical
diameter of the bottom cells were essentially identical to the top cells.
However, both the surface area index (actual are of RBC divided by area of
a sphere of same volume) and the swelling index (maximal volume divided by
actual volume) of the bottom cells were significantly lower than top RBC.
The shear modules of elasticity (mu) was about 0.006 dyne/cm in all 3 RBC
populations, indicating that the forces necessary to deform a portion of
the membrane did not change with RBC aging. The viscoelastic time constant
(tc) was 0.148 +/- 0.020 (SD) sec for the bottom RBC and 0.099 +/- 0.017
sec for the top cells. This difference indicates that shape recovery
following membrane deformation is delayed in old RBC. The membrane surface
viscosity (eta), calculated as the product of tc times mu was 0.95 +/- 0.22
x 10(-3) dyne-sec/cm for the bottom cells and 0.54 +/- 0.15 x 10(-3) for
the top RBC. These data indicate that the relative deficit in membrane
surface area and the increased membrane viscosity of old RBC may be
important determinants for their decreased deformability and their eventual
removal from the circulation.
Volume 59,
Issue 6,
pp. 1121-1127,
06/01/1982
Copyright © 1982 by The American Society of Hematology
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