Cross-linked polymers in the red cell membranes of a patient with Hb-Koln disease

Membranes isolated from the red cells of a Hb-Koln patient were shown to contain appreciable amounts of N epsilon-(gamma-glutamyl)lysine, the characteristic product of the post-translational cross-linking of proteins by transglutaminase. Such an apparently irreversible fusion of membrane proteins may contribute to the membrane defect in Hb-Koln disease.