Cell surface analyses of the age-dependent changes in the electrokinetic properties of human peripheral blood...

The age-dependent changes in the surface electrical charge of human peripheral blood lymphocytes were analyzed by establishing the differences between the surface density of four types of chemical groups on lymphocytes isolated from the blood of individuals of increasing ages. Similar determinations were carried out on cord blood lymphocytes which were shown previously to exhibit either a low or a high electrical charge density reflected in the experimentally determined parameter, the anodic electrophoretic mobility (EPM), differing by about 30%. The surface density of carboxyl group of N-acetylneuraminic acid (NANA), protein side chain epsilon-amino groups, and phosphate groups were different for the two subpopulations of CBL. Differences were also observed between the surface density of these groups on the two subpopulations of CBL and the lymphocytes of older individuals, with the exception of carboxyl groups. In some experiments on lymphocytes from adults, the carboxyls of NANA were much more numerous on nearly 1% of the cells.