title: Studies on the biomechanical properties of maturing reticulocytes.
abstract: We investigated the biomechanical properties of reticulocytes obtained from an animal model of hemolytic anemia induced by antibody injection. The hemorheological indices, membrane viscoelasticity, membrane fluidity, and the secondary structure of membrane proteins of the reticulocytes were monitored continuously during the course of their maturation into erythrocytes. The results indicate that reticulocytes had lower deformability, lower membrane fluidity, greater viscoelastic modulus and lesser proportions of alpha-helices and beta-sheets in protein secondary structures than mature erythrocytes. All these indices approached to the level of normal erythrocytes when reticulocytes transformed during maturation. The results help to enhance our understanding of the biomechanical properties of the reticulocytes in their maturing process with clinical diagnosis significances.
authors.affiliation: Hemorheology Center, Department of Biophysics, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing 100083, PR China.
authors.forename: Lide
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Yuhui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Weijuan
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: Dagong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Weibo
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ka
authors.forename: Zongyao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.forename: Shu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chien
mesh_terms: D000743:Anemia, Hemolytic / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D018056:Hemorheology; D008560:Membrane Fluidity; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D011817:Rabbits; D012156:Reticulocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D014783:Viscosity
chemical_list: D008565:Membrane Proteins