title: Reduced water exchange in sickle cell anemia red cells: a membrane abnormality.
abstract: We have measured the diffusional water permeability of sickle cell anemia red blood cells under isotonic conditions using pulsed nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques. We have found that the equilibrium diffusional permeability for sickle cells is about 1.61.10(-3) cm/s, or about 60% of the value measured for normal cells. This abnormality is not related to the heterogeneity generally found in cell populations in sickle red cells with different mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentrations. We speculate that the abnormality of water exchange under isotonic conditions in sickle cells reflects an alteration of membrane proteins responsible for water exchange, possibly caused by oxidation of Band 3 proteins.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Loyola University of Chicago IL 60626.
authors.forename: L W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Fung
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Narasimhan
authors.forename: H Z
authors.initials: HZ
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Westerman
mesh_terms: D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001692:Biological Transport; D002463:Cell Membrane Permeability; D004058:Diffusion; D004910:Erythrocyte Membrane / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000097:blood; D014867:Water / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D008565:Membrane Proteins; D014867:Water