title: Restoring the youth of aged red blood cells and extending their lifespan in circulation by remodelling membrane sialic acid.
abstract: Membrane sialic acid (SA) plays an important role in the survival of red blood cells (RBCs), the age-related reduction in SA content negatively impacts both the structure and function of these cells. We have therefore suggested that remodelling the SA in the membrane of aged cells would help recover cellular functions characteristic of young RBCs. We developed an effective method for the re-sialylation of aged RBCs by which the cells were incubated with SA in the presence of cytidine triphosphate (CTP) and α-2,3-sialytransferase. We found that RBCs could be re-sialylated if they had available SA-binding groups and after the re-sialylation, aged RBCs could restore their membrane SA to the level in young RBCs. Once the membrane SA was restored, the aged RBCs showed recovery of their biophysical and biochemical properties to similar levels as in young RBCs. Their life span in circulation was also extended to twofold. Our findings indicate that remodelling membrane SA not only helps restore the youth of aged RBCs, but also helps recover injured RBCs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Ji Nan University, Guang Zhou, China.
authors.forename: Yao-Xiong
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Ji Nan University, Guang Zhou, China.
authors.forename: Wei-Wei
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Tuo
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Ji Nan University, Guang Zhou, China.
authors.forename: Di
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Ji Nan University, Guang Zhou, China.
authors.forename: Li-Li
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Ji Nan University, Guang Zhou, China.
authors.forename: Xing-Yao
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Ji Nan University, Guang Zhou, China.
authors.forename: Man
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Luo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D004905:Erythrocyte Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D004906:Erythrocyte Count / Q000379:methods; D004910:Erythrocyte Membrane / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology*; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019158:N-Acetylneuraminic Acid / Q000378:metabolism*; D011817:Rabbits; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D019158:N-Acetylneuraminic Acid
keywords: aged red blood cell; extending lifespan; restoring youth; sialic acid remodelling