Despite being the number one fruit crop in the world, very little is known about the phylogeny and molecular biology of banana (Musa spp.). Six banana rbcS gene families encoding the small subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase from six different Musa spp. are presented. For a comprehensive phylogenetic study using Musa rbcS genes, a total of 57 distinct rbcS sequences was i...

Microscope images analysis of erythrocyte (red blood cells, RBCs) was a widely used method for medical purpose. Usually manual measuring and analysis of the images were subject to time-consuming, errors and unstability of results. The images analysis method had been combined with computer image processing techniques in this research. A measuring and analysis system for microscope images(MIAS) o...

Genes for two lethal diseases, thalassemia and sickle cell anemia, are favored by evolution because, in their heterozygous form, they protect against cerebral malaria. Rosette formation, the binding of uninfected red cells (RBCs) to Plasmodium falciparum-infected RBCs (PRBCs), has previously been found to be associated with cerebral malaria, the most important severe manifestation of P falcipar...

Calcium-loaded red blood cells (RBCs) previously have been shown to have an increased sensitivity to complement-mediated hemolysis and particularly to lysis mediated by the C5b-9 membrane attack complex (MAC) of complement. Because RBCs exposed to 2-aminoethylisothiouronium bromide (AET) also have been shown to be particularly sensitive to the MAC, a direct comparison of calcium-loaded and AET-...

We have recently shown that rosetting of Plasmodium falciparum (MC R+ line)-infected erythrocytes (parasitized red blood cells [PRBCs]) with uninfected erythrocytes (RBCs) is blocked by coating of the RBCs with anti-CD36 monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs; Handunnetti et al, Blood 80:2097, 1992). Adult RBCs have previously been considered negative for CD36. However, using fluorescence-activated cell ...

Oxygen delivery requires that Red Blood Cells (RBCs) must be deformable to pass through the microcirculation. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by abnormal extracellular deposition of beta-amyloid peptide (Abeta) and neuronal loss. We have analyzed RBC morphology in blood from subjects with AD and found that > 15% of the RBCs are elongated as com...

The lipid composition of erythrocytes (red blood cells [RBCs]) plays a significant role in determining certain membrane biophysical properties. We have found that fetal RBCs showed a dramatically low filterability compared with adult RBCs and questioned whether this could be a consequence of their membrane lipid composition. We therefore studied fetal RBCs at two different gestational ages, neo...

Mammalian red blood cells (RBCs) circulate through blood vessels, including capillaries, for tens of days under high mechanical stress. RBCs tolerate this mechanical stress while maintaining their shape because of their elastic membrane skeleton. This membrane skeleton consists of spectrin-actin lattices arranged as quasi-hexagonal units beneath the plasma membrane. In this study, we found that...

Introduction. The study aimed at in vivo assessment of the impact of administered red blood cells (RBCs) concentrates on the plasma levels of K+, lactate, pH, Na+, Ca++ and glucose, depending on the volume and age of administered products. Biochemical changes occurring during the storage of these products were studied in vitro simultaneously. Materials and methods. Arterial blood samples were c...

Effective methods for long-term preservation of cord red blood cells (RBCs) are needed to ensure a readily available supply of RBCs to treat fetal and neonatal anemia. Cryopreservation is a potential long-term storage strategy for maintaining the quality of cord RBCs for the use in intrauterine and neonatal transfusion. However, during cryopreservation, cells are subjected to damaging osmotic s...