The Deformability and the Wetting Properties of Leucocytes and Erythrocytes

Abstract

A principal function of the leucocytes is phagocytosis, the removal by ingestion of foreign particles and the products of injury from the blood and tissue 'spaces. The process of phagocytosis involves the spreading of the leucocyte over the surface of a particle until the latter is completely enclosed. In the body, phagocytosis is enormously augmented by the deposit of serum proteins on the surface of the particle, and it is proving possible to define with some exactness the characteristics of the surface thus formed on the particle which produces a maximum tendency to phagocytosis (1). Concerning the spreading surface, the surface of the leucocyte, however, much less is known. The present study was undertaken principally with the object of gaining such information about the phagocytes and their surfaces as was possible by the interracial technique; it was later broadened to include a study of lymphocytes, erythrocytes, and several types of leucemic cells. Material and MethodsRabbit Cells.--The rabbit large mononuclear* and polymorphonuclear phagocytes were obtained from sterile peritoneal exudates. The polymorphonuclear exudates were elicited by intraperitoneal injection of 0.85 per cent NaC1 by a method which has been fully described (2). The mononuclear exudates were elicited by intraperitoneal injection of light paraffin oil; this method will be described in a forthcoming publication (3). Each type of cell was washed in sterile 0.85 per cent NaC1 and resuspended in the same me,urn. Small samples of these suspensions were used for the present study, and the remainder were used for phagocytosis experiments. Both types of leucocytes functioned normally in phagocytosis.

Observations on Some Properties of a Potent Sperm-Head Agglutinin in the Semen of a Fertile Rabbit

“…The second point concerns the nature of the cell surface. Erythrocytes and myeloid leucocytes differ in their surface properties (Mudd & Mudd, 1931; Bangham, Pethica & Seaman, 1958) and, in the present study, the lack of response of erythrocytes and granulosa cells to the seminal agglutinin stands in contrast to the avid agglutination manifested by the leucocytes and sperm heads. The classic studies of Wilson (1907), using sponge cells, and subsequent investigations by others using embryonic tissues for the most part (see Stein¬ berg, 1962), have demonstrated clearly the tendency of many cell types to adhere preferentially to like cells.…”

The charged groups at the interface of some blood cells

“…The electrophoretic pH-mobility curves for glass, quartz, collodion and mineral oils exposed to plasma suggested to Abramson (1929) the adsorption ofprotein. Polymorphonuclear leucocytes, lymphocytes and platelets have been less well studied and apart from isolated ( potential estimations (Abramson, 1928;Fritze, 1953) and the classical miscibility experiments of Mudd & Mudd (1931) little is known of the surface components of these cells. This paper makes use of the principle (Kruyt, 1948) that the ion groups (e.g.…”

The Process of Phagocytosis

“…An average difference in viscosity between phagocytes of the large mononuclear and the polymorphonuclear types has been observed by E. R. and E. L. Clark (23), by Goss (24), and by ourselves (25). The macrophages offer on the average more resistance to deformation than the polymorphonuclears.…”