Adaptive mechanisms to hematocrit levels of 0.9 in our erythropoietin-overexpressing mice (tg6) include increased plasma nitric oxide levels and erythrocyte flexibility. Doubled reticulocyte counts in tg6 suggest an increased erythrocyte turnover. Here we show that compared with wild-type (wt) animals, erythrocyte lifespan in tg6 is 70% lower in tg6 mice. Transgenic mice have a younger erythrocyte population as indicated by higher intercellular water and potassium content, higher flexibility, decreased density, increased surface to volume ratio, and decreased osmotic fragility. Interestingly, despite being younger, the tg6 erythrocyte population also harbors characteristics of accelerated aging such as an increased band 4.1a to 4.1b ratio, signs of oxidative stress, or decreased surface CD47 and sialic acids. In tg6, in vivo tracking of PKH26-labeled erythrocytes revealed dramatically increased erythrocyte incorporation by their liver macrophages. In vitro experiments showed that tg6 macrophages are more active than wt macrophages and that tg6 erythrocytes are more attractive for macrophages than wt ones. In conclusion, in tg6 mice erythrocyte aging is accelerated, which results, together with an increased number and activity of their macrophages, in enhanced erythrocyte clearance. Our data points toward a new mechanism downregulating red cell mass in excessive erythrocytosis in mice.
IntroductionDuring aging, the erythrocytes considerably change the internal ion and protein composition, and the biomechanical and biochemical properties of their cell membrane, as well as size, shape, and surface to volume ratio. In humans, these changes finally result in selective elimination of senescent erythrocytes from the circulation. 1 The clearance of erythrocytes in mice and rabbits is in part age dependent and in part random. 2 Nevertheless, the agedependent erythrocyte clearance in these mammals is well controlled, involving oxidative damage, phosphatidylserine exposure, 3,4 desialylation, 5 and immunoglobulins. 6 The involvement of immunoglobulins in clearance of senescent erythrocytes in mice must, however, differ from that in humans, because naturally occurring antibodies in mice are exclusively of the IgM class. Under pathological conditions such as sickle cell anemia the phosphatidylserine exposure to the outer leaflet of the red cell membrane presumably plays a predominant role since in this disease the percentage of phosphatidylserine-expressing red cells is increased 2-to 10-fold. 4 Our transgenic (tg6) mice that constitutively overexpress human Epo in an oxygen-independent manner have a 12-fold elevated Epo plasma level 7 leading to hematocrit values of up to 0.9. As to the question how tg6 mice cope with excessive erythrocytosis, we reported earlier that they show chronic vasodilatation due to excessive NO production 7 and regulate blood viscosity by elevating erythrocyte flexibility. 8 Here we were especially interested to define the process of erythrocyte turnover in tg6 animals by focusing on mechanisms of...