Abstract
Changes in the membrane phospholipid (PL) asymmetry is one of the hallmarks of apoptosis in nucleated cells. Although mature anucleated RBCs, do not undergo the classical pattern of apoptosis, upon trauma or aging they present changes in the membrane asymmetry. These changes include a flip-flop of phosphatidylserine (PS) from the inner leaflet of the membrane to its outer leaflet. This externalization of PS stimulates RBC phagocytosis by macrophages of the reticulo-endothelial system and their removal from the circulation. Oxidative stress is among the causes of PS externalization on RBCs. In beta-thalassemia and sickle cell disease, although the primary defects are mutations in the globin genes, oxidative stress is thought to mediate part of the damage to the RBCs, and particularly to its membrane, including PS externalization. In the present study, we used Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to analyze normal and beta-thalassemic RBCs in order to study the relationship between their oxidative status and the content and shedding of their PL. Using 1H-NMR, we demonstrated a higher lactate/pyruvate ratio in thalassemic RBCs, confirming their state of oxidative stress. Using 31P-NMR, we measured the content of various PLs, and found 30±3% more phosphatidylcholine (PC), and unexpectedly, less PS in thalassemic RBCs than in normal RBCs. The PS was increased in thalassemic RBC, but not in normal RBC, by treatment with anti-oxidants (vitamin C and N-acetyl cysteine) and decreased by oxidants (t-butylhydroxyperoxide and H2O2) in normal and thalassemic RBCs. PC showed the opposite behavior, indicating a correlation between PS and PC contents and the oxidative status. Since RBCs with exposed PS have been reported to be more frequent in thalassemic blood than in normal blood, we hypothesized that the decrease in PS is a result of shedding from the external membrane, either as free PS moieties or as part of membrane vesicles. NMR analysis of blood plasma obtained from normal and thalassemic donors indicated a 2.6-fold and 1.8-fold increase in PS and PC, respectively in the latter plasma. In vitro incubation of RBC produced much higher PS in supernatants derived from thalassemic RBCs compared with those of normal RBCs. Anti-oxidants reduced the PS shedding from thalassemic RBCs into their supernatants while oxidants increased the PS shedding by normal RBCs. RBCs are known to shed membranous particles (termed vesicles or microparticles) in vitro and in vivo during their physiologic and pathological senescence. We studied this point by purifying microparticles from plasma and RBC supernatants of normal and thalassemic donors, and measuring the PLs content in their lipophilic extracts by 31P-NMR. We found that the PS content and its proportion out of the total PLs were higher in microparticles purified from thalassemic plasma (0.25±0.04 mM, 19% of the plasma total PS) or RBC supernatants than in normal plasma microparticles (0.045±0.06 mM, 9.5% of the plasma total PS) or supernatants. The results also show that although microparticles are enriched in PS compared to their intact RBCs, the bulk of the shed PS is not associated with microparticles. These results suggest that oxidative stress in RBCs causes them to shed their PS and that the increase in PC levels maybe be a compensating mechanism. The pathological consequences of these phenomena on the survival of RBCs in thalassemia warrants further study.
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