The effect of temperature on the lipid content of the erythrocyte membrane

✍ Scribed by Hunter, F. R. ;Stringer, L. D.

• Publisher: Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
• Year: 1943
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 92 KB
• Volume: 22
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0095-9898
• DOI: 10.1002/jcp.1030220308

✦ Synopsis

Hunter and Pahigian ('40) demonstrated that if chicken erythrocytes were subjected to a temperature 13-18°C. above normal for 9 to 1 hour, the oxygen consumption, anaerobic glycolysis and permeability to non-electrolytes were considerably altered. It seemed of interest to determine what effect this heat treatment might have on the lipid content of the cell membrane.

Chicken erythrocytes were obtained by cardiac puncture and exposed to temperatures varying between 50-55°C. for periods of time ranging from 60 minutes at the lower temperatures to 30 minutes at the higher temperatures. This was the same treatment which resulted in a decrease of 7040% in the rate of oxygen consumption, greater than a 50% decrease in anaerobic glycolysis and approximately a 50% increase in the rate of penetration of a non-electrolyte such as glycerol. The total lipids were extracted from these cells using the method described by Boyd ('36). The total lipid was then determined by the gasometric method of Backlin ('30) as modified by Peters and Van Slyke ('32), Van Slyke et al. ('33) and Kirk et al. ('34) as described by Dziemian ( '39).

The results are presented in table 1.