ISSN:
0021-9541
Keywords:
Life and Medical Sciences
;
Cell & Developmental Biology
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
Notes:
The effect of pH on the buoyant density of human erythrocytes at 4°C in bovine serum albumin (BSA) gradients has been reinvestigated. The results obtained disagree with those found by Legge and Shortman. This disagreement is due to a difference in the way “isotonic” is defined. The results in this pH study were obtained by keeping the total concentration of cations constant rather than the total concentration of solutes. This study demonstrated that when the pH of the BSA gradient is maintained between 5.7 and 7.2, by varying only the concentrations of bicarbonate and chloride ions, the value of ρtmed, the buoyant density at the truncated median of the density distribution, for human erythrocytes changes in a complex manner, but does not increase anywhere as much as previously found. The bicarbonate ion apparently is partially excluded from the human erythrocyte.Upon extrapolation to the physiological concentration of the bicarbonate ion (27.50 meq/liter), the buoyant density was found to decrease with the increasing pH.Variations in the (K+/Na+) ratio of the BSA gradient media, at a constant pH and total cation concentration, do not appear to affect significantly the buoyant density of the human erythrocyte. Increasing the concentration of glucose from 5.55 to 11.10 meq/liter also did not significantly affect the buoyant density of these cells.
Additional Material:
6 Ill.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jcp.1040780205
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