Ultrastructural Studies of Human Erythrocytes Following Exposure to Hemolytic Agents

Abstract

Ultrastructural studies were carried out in human erythrocytes following exposure to a number of agents known to affect the cellular membrane; these included Retinol, p-chloromercuribenzoate (pCMB), Iodoacetate (IAc) and Neuraminidase.Erythrocytes treated with retinol revealed two types of inclusions, electron lucid and electron opaque bodies (Fig. 1). The latter often protruded from the surface and were mostly associated with the membrane, while the former more often were within the cell, away from the cell membrane. That both types of bodies could be truly intracellular in location was shown by serial sections. Addition of ferritin to the incubation medium and its appearance in electron lucid bodies indicated a pinocytosis-like process as mode of formation of the latter structures (Fig. 2). The electron dense bodies, by contrast, appeared to represent membrane alterations occasionally causing surface invagination.