scholarly journals Cholesterol is the main regulator of the carbon dioxide permeability of biological membranes

2018 ◽  
Vol 315 (2) ◽  
pp. C137-C140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariela Arias-Hidalgo ◽  
Samer Al-Samir ◽  
Gerolf Gros ◽  
Volker Endeward

We present here a compilation of membrane CO2 permeabilities (Pco2) for various cell types from the literature. Pco2 values vary over more than two orders of magnitude. Relating Pco2 to the cholesterol content of the membranes shows that, with the exception of red blood cells, it is essentially membrane cholesterol that determines the value of Pco2. Thus, the observed strong modulation of Pco2 in the majority of membranes is caused by cholesterol rather than gas channels.

Author(s):  
D.J.P. Ferguson ◽  
A.R. Berendt ◽  
J. Tansey ◽  
K. Marsh ◽  
C.I. Newbold

In human malaria, the most serious clinical manifestation is cerebral malaria (CM) due to infection with Plasmodium falciparum. The pathology of CM is thought to relate to the fact that red blood cells containing mature forms of the parasite (PRBC) cytoadhere or sequester to post capillary venules of various tissues including the brain. This in vivo phenomenon has been studied in vitro by examining the cytoadherence of PRBCs to various cell types and purified proteins. To date, three Ijiost receptor molecules have been identified; CD36, ICAM-1 and thrombospondin. The specific changes in the PRBC membrane which mediate cytoadherence are less well understood, but they include the sub-membranous deposition of electron-dense material resulting in surface deformations called knobs. Knobs were thought to be essential for cytoadherence, lput recent work has shown that certain knob-negative (K-) lines can cytoadhere. In the present study, we have used electron microscopy to re-examine the interactions between K+ PRBCs and both C32 amelanotic melanoma cells and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC).We confirm previous data demonstrating that C32 cells possess numerous microvilli which adhere to the PRBC, mainly via the knobs (Fig. 1). In contrast, the HUVEC were relatively smooth and the PRBCs appeared partially flattened onto the cell surface (Fig. 2). Furthermore, many of the PRBCs exhibited an invagination of the limiting membrane in the attachment zone, often containing a cytoplasmic process from the endothelial cell (Fig. 2).


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew D. Beale ◽  
Priya Crosby ◽  
Utham K. Valekunja ◽  
Rachel S. Edgar ◽  
Johanna E. Chesham ◽  
...  

AbstractCellular circadian rhythms confer daily temporal organisation upon behaviour and physiology that is fundamental to human health and disease. Rhythms are present in red blood cells (RBCs), the most abundant cell type in the body. Being naturally anucleate, RBC circadian rhythms share key elements of post-translational, but not transcriptional, regulation with other cell types. The physiological function and developmental regulation of RBC circadian rhythms is poorly understood, however, partly due to the small number of appropriate techniques available. Here, we extend the RBC circadian toolkit with a novel biochemical assay for haemoglobin oxidation status, termed “Bloody Blotting”. Our approach relies on a redox-sensitive covalent haem-haemoglobin linkage that forms during cell lysis. Formation of this linkage exhibits daily rhythms in vitro, which are unaffected by mutations that affect the timing of circadian rhythms in nucleated cells. In vivo, haemoglobin oxidation rhythms demonstrate daily variation in the oxygen-carrying and nitrite reductase capacity of the blood, and are seen in human subjects under controlled laboratory conditions as well as in freely-behaving humans. These results extend our molecular understanding of RBC circadian rhythms and suggest they serve an important physiological role in gas transport.


eLife ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rima S Chakrabarti ◽  
Sally A Ingham ◽  
Julia Kozlitina ◽  
Austin Gay ◽  
Jonathan C Cohen ◽  
...  

Cholesterol partitions into accessible and sequestered pools in cell membranes. Here, we describe a new assay using fluorescently-tagged anthrolysin O, a cholesterol-binding bacterial toxin, to measure accessible cholesterol in human red blood cells (RBCs). Accessible cholesterol levels were stable within individuals, but varied >10 fold among individuals. Significant variation was observed among ethnic groups (Blacks>Hispanics>Whites). Variation in accessibility of RBC cholesterol was unrelated to the cholesterol content of RBCs or plasma, but was associated with the phospholipid composition of the RBC membranes and with plasma triglyceride levels. Pronase treatment of RBCs only modestly altered cholesterol accessibility. Individuals on hemodialysis, who have an unexplained increase in atherosclerotic risk, had significantly higher RBC cholesterol accessibility. Our data indicate that RBC accessible cholesterol is a stable phenotype with significant inter-individual variability. Factors both intrinsic and extrinsic to the RBC contribute to variation in its accessibility. This assay provides a new tool to assess cholesterol homeostasis among tissues in humans.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 144-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew D. Beale ◽  
Emily Kruchek ◽  
Stephen J. Kitcatt ◽  
Erin A. Henslee ◽  
Jack S.W. Parry ◽  
...  

Temperature compensation and period determination by casein kinase 1 (CK1) are conserved features of eukaryotic circadian rhythms, whereas the clock gene transcription factors that facilitate daily gene expression rhythms differ between phylogenetic kingdoms. Human red blood cells (RBCs) exhibit temperature-compensated circadian rhythms, which, because RBCs lack nuclei, must occur in the absence of a circadian transcription-translation feedback loop. We tested whether period determination and temperature compensation are dependent on CKs in RBCs. As with nucleated cell types, broad-spectrum kinase inhibition with staurosporine lengthened the period of the RBC clock at 37°C, with more specific inhibition of CK1 and CK2 also eliciting robust changes in circadian period. Strikingly, inhibition of CK1 abolished temperature compensation and increased the Q10 for the period of oscillation in RBCs, similar to observations in nucleated cells. This indicates that CK1 activity is essential for circadian rhythms irrespective of the presence or absence of clock gene expression cycles.


1989 ◽  
Vol 257 (1) ◽  
pp. C58-C64 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. H. Ryu ◽  
N. C. Adragna ◽  
P. K. Lauf

The kinetic parameters and transport mechanism of Na-Li exchange were studied in both low K (LK) and high K (HK) sheep red blood cells with cellular Na [( Na]i) and Li concentrations [( Li]i) adjusted by the nystatin technique (Nature New Biol. 244: 47-49, 1973 and J. Physiol. Lond. 283: 177-196, 1978). Maximum velocities (Vm) for Li fluxes and half-activation constants (K1/2) for Li and Na of the Na-Li exchanger were determined. The K1/2 values for both Li and Na appeared to be similar in both cell types, although they were about two to three times lower on the inside than on the outside of the membrane. Furthermore, the K1/2 values for Li were at least an order of magnitude smaller than those for Na, suggesting substantial affinity differences for these two cations. The Vm values for Li fluxes, on the other hand, appear to be lower in HK than in LK cells. When Na and Li fluxes were measured simultaneously, a trans stimulatory effect by Na on Li fluxes was observed. From measurements of Li influx at different concentrations of external Li and different [Na]i, the ratio of the apparent Vm to the apparent external Li affinity was calculated to be independent of [Na]i for both types of sheep red blood cells. Similar trans effects of external Na were observed on Li efflux at varying [Li]i. These results are expected for a system operating by a “ping-pong” mechanism.


1988 ◽  
Vol 255 (3) ◽  
pp. C331-C339 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. K. Lauf

The effect of six different anions on the volume response of ouabain-resistant K transport was systematically studied at extracellular pH (pHo) = 7.4 in sheep red blood cells of both low and high K genotype before and after treatment with the sulfhydryl (SH) reagent N-ethylmaleimide (NEM). In methanesulfonate (CH3SO3), both the apparent Rb permeability (P(app)Rb), calculated from ouabain-resistant Rb influx), and K permeability (PK, calculated from the rate constants of ouabain-resistant zero-trans K efflux, 0k(OR)K) were volume independent and close to 10(-10) cm/s for both cell types, but in Cl, Br, I, SCN, and NO3 they were significantly different in low and high K cells with altered cell volumes. Thus, in 15% osmotically shrunken low K cells, P(app)Rb) and PK were similar regardless of the anions present, but upon 10-15% swelling, they increased to approximately 4-6 X 10(-9) cm/s in Br and 2 X 10(-9) cm/s in Cl and also increased with comparatively small increments in I, SCN, and NO3. Treatment with NEM enhanced both P(app)Rb) and PK, particularly in shrunken low K cells, to approximately 10(-8) cm/s in Br and Cl but not in I, SCN, and NO3. In shrunken or isotonic high K cells, P(app)Rb) and PK were close to 10(-10) cm/s in all anions except for SCN. Swelling and/or NEM increased PK and P(app)Rb) in Cl and Br only two- to threefold.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


1979 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
V Castranova ◽  
J F Hoffman

After incubation in isotonic KCl, dog red blood cells can be separated by centrifugation into subgroups which assume different cell volumes and possess different transport characteristics. Those red cells which swell in isotonic KCl exhibit a higher permeability to K and possess a greater volume dependence for transport of K than those red cells which shrink. A high Na permeability characterizes cells which shrink in isotonic KCl and these cells exhibit a larger volume-dependent Na flux than those red cells which swell. These two subgroups of red cells do not seem to represent two cell populations of different age. The results indicate that the population of normal cells is evidently heterogeneous in that the volume-dependent changes in Na and K permeability are distributed between differnt cell types rather than representing a single cell type which reciprocally changes its selectivity to Na and K.


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