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ON THE SURFACE COMPOSITION OF NORMAL AND SENSITIZED MAMMALIAN BLOOD CELLS
1Laboratories of The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, New York, and the Henry Phipps Institute of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
The Journal of Experimental Medicine
|October 30, 2009
Summary
The interfacial tension method reveals that sensitized erythrocytes have increased surface polarity due to antigen-antibody interactions. Heat alters leucocyte and platelet behavior at interfaces, indicating changes in cell surface properties.
Area of Science:
- Biophysics
- Cell Biology
- Immunology
Background:
- The interfacial tension method is a valuable tool for probing the surface properties of biological particles.
- Understanding the surface composition and behavior of blood cells is crucial in various biological and medical contexts.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the surface composition of mammalian blood cells using the interfacial tension method.
- To determine how sensitization and heat treatment affect the interfacial properties of erythrocytes, leucocytes, and platelets.
Main Methods:
- Application of the interfacial tension method to study the behavior of erythrocytes, leucocytes, and platelets at oil-water interfaces.
- Utilizing immune sera to sensitize erythrocytes and observing their stability at the interface.
- Applying heat treatment to leucocytes and platelets and assessing changes in their oil miscibility.
Main Results:
- Unsensitized erythrocytes and stromata show low interfacial stability, readily entering the oil phase.
- Sensitized erythrocytes exhibit significantly greater stability, with characteristic deformations occurring.
- Heat-treated leucocytes and platelets demonstrate reduced oil miscibility, altering their interfacial behavior.
Conclusions:
- The increased polarity of sensitized erythrocytes is attributed to the combination of cell surface lipoids with hemolytic sensitizers, supporting the presence of lipoid-soluble antigens.
- Agglutinins in anti-horse-erythrocyte sera appear to combine predominantly with red cell surface proteins.
- Heat injury induces changes in leucocyte and platelet interfacial properties, suggesting alterations in their surface composition or structure.
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