Effect of preparative procedures on ghostcells from bovine erythrocytes

Several methods for the preparation of "white ghosts" or "resealed ghosts" were described in the recent literature. This article compares three methods to prepare white, resealed ghosts from bovine erythrocytes based on the principle of hypotonic lysis. The methods described differ by the removal of hemoglobin from the empty cells. The main difference between the standard centrifugation, the gelfiltration and the hollow-fibre diafiltration is the mechanical stress on the leaky membranes after swelling in hypotonic media. Mean cellular volumes, rates of potassium-efflux and the access of impermeable dyes to cytoplasmatic proteins are criteria to differentiate between ghostcell-populations.