Maturation-dependent changes of the rabbit reticulocyte energy metabolism

Rabbit reticulocytes were separated into four fractions of different maturity in order to investigate the changes of cellular respiration and glycolysis, adenine nucleotides, 2,3-biphosphoglycerate (2,3-BPG) as well as cyclic AMP level during the transition from the youngest to the most mature reticulocytes. A significant reduction of total oxygen consumption, mainly due to depression of coupled respiration was found. The decline of respiration was accompanied by a 2-fold increase of the rate of aerobic glycolysis indicating a reduced Pasteur effect during maturation. A decline of ATP and an increase of ADP concentration was found. The oxygen-delivery capacity of the red cells increased by about 26% caused by an increase of the 2,3-BPG level of about 2 mmol/l cells. Cyclic AMP level in the fraction of youngest reticulocytes was about 60-fold higher than that in mature rabbit erythrocytes. The biggest decline of cyclic AMP was registered during the transition from youngest to the intermediate stage of maturity.