Abstract
In systems containing human red cells and sodium taurocholate as a lysin, or distearyl lecithin as a sphering agent, the prolytic loss of K at 25°C. is accompanied by a gain of Na by the cell, the gain being somewhat greater than the K loss. A small volume increase accompanies the exchange. The kinetics of the K loss and the Na gain are similar to those already described; i.e., the changes are rapid at first, and slow down so that after 12 to 20 hours it appears that a new steady state is being approached. Similar, but smaller, losses of K and gains of Na occur when the cells stand in isotonic NaCl at 25°C. without the addition of a lysin or sphering agent. On these and other experimental grounds, it is impossible to retain the idea that the mammalian red cell in general is impermeable to cations. The cells nevertheless seem to be in a steady state with respect to their environment, their ionic composition changing as the composition of the environment is changed. The possible processes by means of which one steady state can be exchanged for another—changes in the permeability of a surface membrane, changes in the velocity of an active ion transfer process dependent on red cell metabolism, and changes in the activity of the ions in the red cell interior as a result of changes in an orderly internal structure—are discussed.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (612.6 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Davson H. Studies on the permeability of erythrocytes: The cation content of erythrocytes of rabbit's blood in hyper- and hypo-tonic sera. Biochem J. 1936 Mar;30(3):391–393. doi: 10.1042/bj0300391. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Macleod J., Ponder E. The measurement of red cell volume: IV. Alterations in cell volume in hypotonic plasma. J Physiol. 1933 Jan 16;77(2):181–188. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1933.sp002961. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Ponder E., Robinson E. J. The escape of potassium from rabbit red cells into hypotonic solutions. Biochem J. 1934;28(5):1940–1943. doi: 10.1042/bj0281940. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Ponder E., Robinson E. J. The measurement of red cell volume: V. The behaviour of cells from oxalated and from defibrinated blood in hypotonic plasma and saline. J Physiol. 1934 Dec 14;83(1):34–48. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1934.sp003209. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]