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The influence of poly(ethylene glycol) on the molecular dynamics within the glycocalyx
L Pratsch1, A Herrmann, I Schwede
1Sektion Biologie, Humboldt-Universität, Berlin, G.D.R.
Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta
|April 14, 1989
Abstract:
Interaction of polymers with cell surfaces is a question of general interest for cell aggregation and fusion. The molecular dynamics within the surface coat of human erythrocytes as well as alterations of membrane protein arrangement (IMPs) in the presence of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) were investigated by EPR spin labeling techniques and freeze-fracture electron microscopy, respectively. AT PEG concentrations which induce aggregation of erythrocytes the surface coat and the protein arrangement is not disturbed by the polymer. This implicate an exclusion of the polymer from the cell surface.