1998 Volume 12 Issue 2 Pages 47-56
The effect of drug-induced shape change of red cells on their deformability was studied. When red cells were transformed to echinocytes by a treatment with an amphipathic anion, dinitrophenol (DNP), they deformed to flat ellipsoid as the same extent as non-treated cells under a high shear stress and recover discocytic shape by a cell-washing with albumin. On the other hand, stomatocytic shape change induced by an amphipathic cation, chlorpromazine (CPZ), impaired both the defomability and the ability of shape recovery. Although the stomatocytic shape of the CPZ-treated cells was reverted to discocytic shape by a further treatment with DNP, the impairment in the deformability and the ability of shape recovery remained. When membrane proteins were crosslinked to impair the deformability, the transformation to echinocytes was not affected and the impaired deformability was not improved after the cell-washing to recover discocytic shape.
These results suggest that shape change itself do not impair the deformability under high shear stresses but reorganizatin of membrane proteins accompanied with a stomatocytic shape change has a responsibility for the impairment of the deformability.
