title: Membrane flickering of the human erythrocyte: physical and chemical effectors.
abstract: Recent studies suggest a link between adenosine triphosphate (ATP) concentration and the amplitude of cell membrane flickering (CMF) in the human erythrocyte (red blood cell; RBC). Potentially, the origin of this phenomenon and the unique discocyte shape could be active processes that account for some of the ATP turnover in the RBC. Active flickering could depend on several factors, including pH, osmolality, enzymatic rates and metabolic fluxes. In the present work, we applied the data analysis described in the previous article to study time courses of flickering RBCs acquired using differential interference contrast light microscopy in the presence of selected effectors. We also recorded images of air bubbles in aqueous detergent solutions and oil droplets in water, both of which showed rapid fluctuations in image intensity, the former showing the same type of spectral envelope (relative frequency composition) to RBCs. We conclude that CMF is not directly an active process, but that ATP affects the elastic properties of the membrane that flickers in response to molecular bombardment in a manner that is described mathematically by a constrained random walk.
authors.affiliation: School of Molecular Bioscience, G08, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia, max.puckeridge@sydney.edu.au.
authors.forename: Max
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Puckeridge
authors.forename: Bogdan E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.forename: Arthur D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Conigrave
authors.forename: Philip W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Kuchel
mesh_terms: D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000378:metabolism; D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D020536:Enzyme Activators / Q000494:pharmacology; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D004910:Erythrocyte Membrane / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D009994:Osmolar Concentration; D010749:Phosphoprotein Phosphatases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D011493:Protein Kinase C / Q000378:metabolism; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D020536:Enzyme Activators; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate; D011493:Protein Kinase C; D010749:Phosphoprotein Phosphatases