WARTY ERYTHROCYTE GHOST PRODUCED BY RECTILINEARLY INCREASING HYPOTONIC STRESS IN COIL PLANET CENTRIFUGATION
Coil planet centrifugation provides an excellent measure for bservation of erythrocyte hemolysis under continuously increasing hypotonic stress which takes place in a long (3m) slender (bore diameter 0.3 mm) coiled polyethylene tube filled with a column of NaCl solution of rectilinearly decreasing osmolarity of 120 → 50 mOsM. From one end of the coiled tube a minute amount (10 μl) of blood sample was introduced, tightly-sealed at both ends, and then subjected to coil plant contrifugation. After centrifugation the coiled tube containing hemolysis band was divided into 15 segments of equal length. The contents of the segments were discharged from the tube separately so that erythrocyte stromas in the hemolysis band might be fixed in glutaraldehyde and osmic acid for stereoscan electron microscopy. The result of the observation disclosed a considerably large number of stromas engraved with tortoise-shell like irregular mosaic pattern, which reminded us of Bull's theory of mosaic structure of erythrocyte membrane. However, the mosaic pattern was composed of numerous warts which were too large in size to be regarded as individual units constructing the erythrocyte membrane. It is therefore presumed that the warty appearance of the stroma will be the shrinkage-product of erythrocyte ghost possessing a tortoise-shell like contractile framework inside of the cellular membrane after the erythrocyte has discharged its content by hypotonic stress.
