Enhanced concanavalin A agglutination of trypsinised erythrocytes is due to a specific class of aggregation.
Using the output of a rotational viscometer as a continuous index of aggregation, we have shown previously that the concanavalin A agglutination of native human erythrocytes can be resolved into three distinct classes of aggregation, static, type I and type II. Static aggregation occurs in the absence of shear forces while both type I and II aggregations are shear-induced. We now report that the increased concanavalin A agglutination of trypsinised erythrocytes is attributable to a specific enhancement in the development of type II aggregation. While type II formation in native cell suspensions requires high concanavalin A concentrations and continual shearing, an indistinguishable type of aggregation develops in suspensions of trypsinised red cells at considerably lower lectin concentrations and in the absence of applied shear forces.
D003208:Concanavalin A / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004903:Erythrocyte Aggregation; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D014357:Trypsin / Q000378:metabolism
D003208:Concanavalin A; D014357:Trypsin