Skip to main content
NCBI home page
The Journal of General Physiology logoLink to The Journal of General Physiology
. 1972 Mar 1;59(3):270–284. doi: 10.1085/jgp.59.3.270

Changes from High Potassium (HK) to Low Potassium (LK) in Bovine Red Cells

Yedy Israel 1, Alain Macdonald 1, Jaime Bernstein 1, Eduardo Rosenmann 1
PMCID: PMC2203178  PMID: 4258145

Abstract

Red cells of newborn calves contain 105–110 mmole K+ and 1–5 mmole Na+ per liter of cells. As the animals age the K+ content decreases to a value of 25–30 mmole/liter of cells after about 60 days. At approximately the same time, the sodium content reaches a value of 60–70 mmole/liter. The time required for half change (t ½) is 35–37 days for both Na+ and K+. The activity of (Na + K)-adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) and the influx of K42 and Rb86 into the red cells are high at birth and are reduced to 5 and 15% of their original values, respectively, in mature animals. t ½ for both is of the order of 30–35 days. The membrane Mg-ATPase activity is also high at birth and is reduced with a t ½ of 28–32 days to a final value of about 20% of its activity at birth. Separation of red cells according to their age showed that, in animals at the age of transition, newly formed red cells contain a higher K/Na ratio and a higher active transport capacity than older red cells of the same animal. It is suggested that the changes observed are a reflection of the average age of the red cell population as the animal grows.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (753.9 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. BERNSTEIN R. E. Alterations in metabolic energetics and cation transport during aging of red cells. J Clin Invest. 1959 Sep;38:1572–1586. doi: 10.1172/JCI103936. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. BLUNT M. H., EVANS J. V. CHANGES IN THE CONCENTRATION OF POTASSIUM IN THE ERYTHROCYTES AND IN HAEMOGLOBIN TYPE IN MERINO SHEEP UNDER A SEVERE ANAEMIC STRESS. Nature. 1963 Dec 21;200:1215–1216. doi: 10.1038/2001215b0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bernstein J. C., Israel Y. Active transport of Rb86 in human red cells and rat brain slices. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1970 Aug;174(2):323–329. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bishop C., Prentice T. C. Separation of rabbit red cells by density in a bovine serum albumin gradient and correlation of red cell density with cell age after in vivo labeling with 59-Fe. J Cell Physiol. 1966 Feb;67(1):197–207. doi: 10.1002/jcp.1040670122. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Brewer G. J., Eaton J. W., Beck C. C., Feitler L., Shreffler D. C. Sodium-potssum tmulated ATPase activity of mammalian hemolysates: clinical observations and ominance of ATPase deficiency in the potassium polymorphism of sheep. J Lab Clin Med. 1968 May;71(5):744–753. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. COHEN B. L., EVANS J. V., HARRIS H., KING J. W., WARREN F. L. Genetics of haemoglobin and blood potassium differences in sheep. Nature. 1956 Oct 20;178(4538):849–850. doi: 10.1038/178849a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. EVANS J. V. Electrolyte concentrations in red blood cells of British breeds of sheep. Nature. 1954 Nov 13;174(4437):931–932. doi: 10.1038/174931a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. FOLCH J., LEES M., SLOANE STANLEY G. H. A simple method for the isolation and purification of total lipides from animal tissues. J Biol Chem. 1957 May;226(1):497–509. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. GOLDBLOOM R. B., FISCHER E., REINHOLD J., HSIA D. Y. Y. Studies on the mechanical fragility of erythrocytes. I. Normal values for infants and children. Blood. 1953 Feb;8(2):165–169. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. GORNALL A. G., BARDAWILL C. J., DAVID M. M. Determination of serum proteins by means of the biuret reaction. J Biol Chem. 1949 Feb;177(2):751–766. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Israel Y., Kalant H., LeBlanc E., Bernstein J. C., Salazar I. Changes in cation transport and (Na + K)-activated adenosine triphosphatase produced by chronic administration of ethanol. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1970 Aug;174(2):330–336. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. LEIF R. C., VINOGRAD J. THE DISTRIBUTION OF BUOYANT DENSITY OF HUMAN ERYTHROCYTES IN BOVINE ALBUMIN SOLUTIONS. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1964 Mar;51:520–528. doi: 10.1073/pnas.51.3.520. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Laemmli U. K. Cleavage of structural proteins during the assembly of the head of bacteriophage T4. Nature. 1970 Aug 15;227(5259):680–685. doi: 10.1038/227680a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Lee P., Woo A., Tosteson D. C. Cytodifferentiation and membrane transport properties in LK sheep red cells. J Gen Physiol. 1966 Nov;50(2):379–390. doi: 10.1085/jgp.50.2.379. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Rasmusen B. A., Hall J. G. Association between potassium concentration and serological type of sheep red blood cells. Science. 1966 Mar 25;151(3717):1551–1552. doi: 10.1126/science.151.3717.1551. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. SKOU J. C. ENZYMATIC BASIS FOR ACTIVE TRANSPORT OF NA+ AND K+ ACROSS CELL MEMBRANE. Physiol Rev. 1965 Jul;45:596–617. doi: 10.1152/physrev.1965.45.3.596. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Tosteson D. C. Some properties of the plasma menbranes of high potassium and low potassium sheep red cells. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1966 Jul 14;137(2):577–590. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1966.tb50183.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Whittam R., Wheeler K. P. Transport across cell membranes. Annu Rev Physiol. 1970;32:21–60. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ph.32.030170.000321. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of General Physiology are provided here courtesy of The Rockefeller University Press

RESOURCES