Journal of Biochemistry Advance Access originally published online on March 26, 2007
Journal of Biochemistry 2007 141(5):747-754; doi:10.1093/jb/mvm080
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© 2007 The Japanese Biochemical Society.
Membrane Perturbations of Erythrocyte Ghosts by Spectrin Release
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Fukuoka University, Jonan-ku, Fukuoka 814-0180, Japan
*To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +81-92-871-6631(ex 6242), Fax: +81-92-865-6030, E-mail: takeo{at}fukuoka-u.ac.jp
Received January 25, 2007; Accepted March 8, 2007
| Abstract |
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The cytoskeleton plays an important role in the stability and function of the membrane. Spectrin release from erythrocyte ghosts makes the membrane more fragile. However, the detail of membrane fragility has remained unclear. In the present study, the effects of incubation temperatures and polyamines on the membrane structure of ghosts under hypotonic conditions have been examined. Upon exposure of ghosts to a hypotonic buffer at 037°C, reduction of ghost volume, spectrin release and decrease of band 3-cytoskeleton interactions were clearly observed above 30°C. However, such changes were completely inhibited by spermine and spermidine. Interestingly, conformational changes of spectrin induced at 37°C or 49°C were not suppressed by both polyamines. Flow cytometry of fluorescein isothiocyanate-labelled ghosts exposed to 37°C demonstrated the two peaks corresponding to ghosts with normal spectrin content and decreased one. Taken together, these results indicate that the degree of spectrin release from the membrane under hypotonic conditions is not same in all ghosts, and that polyamines inhibit the spectrin release followed by changes in the membrane structure, but not conformational changes of spectrin.
Key Words: band 3, erythrocyte, flow cytometry, polyamine, spectrin
Abbreviations: C12E8, octaethylene glycol mono-n-dodecyl ether; DNDS, 4,4'-dinitrostilbene-2, 2'-disulphonate; FITC, fluorescein isothiocyanate; NPIA, N-(1-pyrenyl) iodoacetamide; PBS, phosphate-buffered saline, 10 mM sodium phosphate, 150 mM NaCl, pH 7.4; 5P8, 5 mM sodium phosphate, pH 8