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Journal archive > 2006 > N 6 November-December

THE STUDY OF Ca2+ INFLUX IN HUMAN ERYTHROCYTES IN ISOTONIC
POLYETHYLENE (GLYCOL) 1500 (PEG-1500) AND SUCROSE MEDIA

Yu. V. Kucherenko1, I. Bernhardt2

1Institute for Problems of Cryobiology and Cryomedicine, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kharkiv;
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2Laboratory of Biophysics, Faculty of Natural and Technical Sciences III, University of the Saarland, Saarbruecken, Germany;
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Effects of isotonic solutions of polyethylene (glycol) 1500 (PEG-1500) and sucrose on Ca2+ influx into ATP-depleted red blood cells were studied using the Ca2+-sensitive fluorescent dye fura-2AM. When incubated in isotonic low ionic strength media (containing 2 mM CaCl2 in addition to sucrose and PEG-1500), the initial rate of Ca2+ influx was higher than that for the cells in physiological (normal ionic strength) medium. After 20 minutes of incubation in the PEG-1500-containing solution, a 10-fold increase of Ca2+ influx was observed, whereas in the sucrose medium the rate of Ca2+ influx decreased compared to that in physiological medium. 1H-NMR data provided no evidence of direct interaction between PEG-1500 and the erythrocyte membrane. Moreover, PEG-1500 did not affect lipid peroxidation (LPO) induction in erythrocyte membranes. We propose that a change in the hydrogen environment of Ca2+-ATPase of the erythrocytes suspended in the PEG-1500 solution is the primary cause of altered Ca2+ homeostasis in these cells. The activation of the Ca2+-ATP-ase in sucrose medium may result in an incomplete suppression of the Ca2+-pump activity in ATP-depleted cells, which is accelerated when calmodulin binds with the Ca2+-ATP-ase under the conditions of rapid Ca2+ accumulation.

Key words: ATP-depleted erythrocytes, calcium influx, sucrose, polyethylene (glycol), fura-2.

The original article in English is available for download in PDF format.

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