Cation Content and Transport Characteristics of the Sickle-Cell Erythrocyte and their Relationship with Structural Changes in the Membrane

1974 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 679-692 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Kurantsin-Mills ◽  
M. Kudo ◽  
S. Kojo Addae

1. The intra-erythrocytic concentrations of sodium and potassium and the water content have been determined for haemoglobin (Hb) SS cells and negroid Hb AA cells. 2. The erythrocyte concentration of sodium was 40% higher and potassium 10% lower in the Hb SS than in the Hb AA cells. The cell water expressed as % weight of cell (corrected for trapped plasma) was identical for both cell types. 3. Normal Caucasian erythrocytes with Hb AA contained 40–50% less sodium but about the same potassium concentration as negroid Hb AA cells. 4. Potassium efflux into buffered iso-osmotic sucrose medium was much faster in Hb SS than in negroid Hb AA cells; ouabain-sensitive active sodium transport was twice as fast in the sickle-cell erythrocytes. Passive sodium efflux of erythrocytes suspended in a physiological medium was similarly faster in Hb SS cells. 5. Under the conditions of the experiments not less than 85% of the Hb SS erythrocytes appeared biconcave. Electron-microscopic examination of ultra-thin sections of Hb SS cells revealed marked discontinuities in the membrane. This suggests definite membrane alterations, which have probably resulted from the sickling-unsickling cycles occurring during the life-span of the cells. 6. It is suggested that the enhanced active sodium transport in the Hb SS erythrocyte is secondary to the augmented passive cation efflux, which in turn results from the leakiness of the erythrocyte membrane produced by the sickling-unsickling process.

1988 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Afzal Mir ◽  
Kevin Morgan ◽  
Stephen Chappell ◽  
Mark Lewis ◽  
Gillian Spurlock ◽  
...  

1. Using a previously established method of isolating an active-sodium-transport inhibitor (ASTI) from hypothalamic cell culture medium, the inhibitor was isolated and partially purified from sequential passages through Sephadex G-25 and h.p.l.c, and its effects on de-endothelialized rabbit aortic strips were investigated. 2. ASTI caused a cumulative concentration-dependent increase in tension which reversed slowly after wash, and the wash showed an identical effect on fresh strips. 3. Ouabain, used as a control, also caused a concentration-dependent increase in tension which reached a plateau at a concentration of 10 mmol/l. Both ouabain and ASTI caused a significant potentiation of the vasoconstrictor effect of noradrenaline at concentrations of 1 nmol/l-0.1 mmol/l. 4. Both ASTI and ouabain caused a significantly greater (P < 0.01) calcium retention than control medium in aortic strips. 5. Incubation of ASTI with prolidase, chymotrypsin and carboxypeptidase A destroyed the vasoconstrictor effects as well as its inhibitory effects on sodium, potassium-dependent adenosine triphosphatase and sodium efflux from erythrocytes, but leucine aminopeptidase was ineffective. 6. These studies suggest that hypothalamic cells in culture release a peptidic inhibitor of active sodium transport which increases vascular reactivity, potentiates vasoconstrictor effects of noradrenaline and causes calcium retention.


Author(s):  
D.R. Mattie ◽  
C.J. Hixson

Dimethylmethylphosphonate (DMMP) is a simple organophosphate used industrially as a flame retardant and to lower viscosity in polyester and epoxy resins. The military considered the use of DMMP as a nerve gas simulant. Since military use of DMMP involved exposure by inhalation, there was a need for a subchronic inhalation exposure to DMMP to fully investigate its toxic potential.Male Fischer-344 rats were exposed to 25 ppm or 250 ppm DMMP vapor on a continuous basis for 90 days. An equal number of control rats were sham-exposed. Following the 90-day continuous exposure period, 15 male rats were sacrificed from each group. Two rats from each group had the left kidney perfused for electron microscopic examination. The kidneys were perfused from a height of 150 cm water with 1% glutaraldehyde in Sorensen's 0.1M phosphate buffer pH 7.2. An additional kidney was taken from a rat in each group and fixed by immersion in 2.5% glutaraldehyde and 2% paraformaldehyde in 0.1M cacodylate buffer pH 7.4. A portion of the 9 kidneys collected for electron microscopy were processed into Epon 812. Thin sections, stained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate, were examined with a JEOL 100B Transmission Electron Microscope. Microvilli height was measured on photographs of the cells of proximal tubules. This data, along with morphologic features of the cells, allows the proximal convoluted tubules (PCT) to be identified as being S1, S2, or S3 segment PCT.


1963 ◽  
Vol 204 (4) ◽  
pp. 527-531 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl J. Ullrich ◽  
Bodil Schmidt-Nielsen ◽  
Roberta O'Dell ◽  
Gundula Pehling ◽  
Carl W. Gottschalk ◽  
...  

Fluid was collected by micropuncture from proximal and distal convolutions of anesthetized rats and analyzed for inulin, sodium, urea, and total osmotically active solute. The proximal fluid/plasma (F/P) sodium ratio was not significantly different from unity in antidiuretic animals, but was as low as 0.78 during mannitol diuresis. The distal F/P sodium ratio averaged 0.62 in antidiuresis, and 0.24 during osmotic diuresis. The data are interpreted to indicate active sodium transport by both proximal and distal convolutions. The F/P ratios for inulin, urea, and total osmotically active solute are in general agreement with previous studies.


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