The effect of 2 molar urea on Jk (a-b-) red cells

The phenomenon of red cell lysis in urea was investigated for both normal and Jk(a-b-) red cells. Using 14C urea, urea was shown to be transported across the membrane in both cell types. In normal cells this resulted in an influx of water, cell swelling and complete lysis within 2 min. However, in Jk(a-b-) red cells, the presence of urea above 300 mM slowed water movement and delayed hemolysis for at least 15 min. Similar effects could be induced by pretreating normal red cells with p-chloromercuribenzene sulfonate (PCMBS) or by raising the pH of the urea solution to 8.0.