In addition to transporting oxygen and carbon dioxide to and from the tissues, a range of other functions are attributed to red blood cells (RBCs) of vertebrates. Diseases compromising RBC performance in any of these functions warrant in-depth study. Furthermore, the human RBC is a vital host cell for the malaria parasite. Much has been learned from classical biochemical approaches about RBC co...

The retinoblastoma (Rb) protein negatively regulates the G1-S transition by binding to the E2F transcription factors, until cyclin-dependent kinases phosphorylate Rb, causing E2F release. The Rb pocket domain is necessary for E2F binding, but the Rb C-terminal domain (RbC) is also required for growth suppression. Here we demonstrate a high-affinity interaction between RbC and E2F-DP heterodimer...

Sickle red blood cell (RBC) adhesion to the blood vessel wall is hypothesized to be the initiating event in the periodic vaso-occlusive episodes that characterize sickle cell disease (SCD). Thrombospondin-1 (TSP) and von Willebrand factor (vWF) have each been implicated in the adhesion of sickle RBC to vascular endothelial cells (EC) and subendothelial matrices. To better understand the contrib...

Asignificant proportion of critically ill children receive red blood cell (RBC) transfusions during their pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) stay (15% in the PICU of Sainte-Justine Hospital) (1). There are few data on the indications for packed RBC transfusions in critically ill children, and therefore one may ask on what evidence pediatric intensivists base their transfusion decisions. The c...

THE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE DATA SUGGEST THAT EFFORTS TOWARD IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF RED BLOOD CELL (RBC) BLOOD BANK PRODUCTS SHOULD CONCENTRATE ON: (1) preventing the removal of a considerable fraction of the transfused RBCs that takes place within the first hours after transfusion; (2) minimizing the interaction of the transfused RBCs with the patient's immune system. These issues are important ...

Until now, there have been no measurements of the in vivo stability of red-blood-cell-bound C3d and C4d subfragments of the third and fourth components of human complement. We have recently described a radiolabeled antiantiglobulin method for measuring RBC-bound C3d and have demonstrated that small amounts of C3d are present on RBC of all normal subjects tested. In the present study, the method...

The role of epidermal growth factor in the regulation of the proteolytic and RBC cytolytic activity of the A431 cancer cell line has been evaluated using our previously described gelatin/polyacrylamide electrophoretic assay and tumor-induced RBC cytolysis assay, respectively. A431 cells maintained in 10% fetal bovine serum were actively cytolytic for RBC (release index, 53.0 +/- 2.9%), whereas ...

OBJECTIVE In this study, we aimed to measure changes in red blood cell (RBC) immunity and cytokine levels after performing total hip replacement surgery. MATERIAL AND METHODS Twenty patients receiving total hip arthroplasty were investigated by measuring presurgical and postoperative RBC natural tumor erythrocyte rosette rate (NTERR), RBC C3b receptor rosette rate (RC3bRR), RBC membrane CD35,...

Macrophages tightly control the production and clearance of red blood cells (RBC). During steady state hematopoiesis, approximately 10(10) RBC are produced per hour within erythroblastic islands in humans. In these erythroblastic islands, resident bone marrow macrophages provide erythroblasts with interactions that are essential for erythroid development. New evidence suggests that not only und...

OBJECTIVES The study purpose was to determine the optimal use of lumbar puncture (LP) red blood cell (RBC) counts to identify subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) when some blood remains in the final tube. METHODS A case series was performed at a tertiary emergency department (ED). Records of 4,496 consecutive adult patients billed for LPs between 2001 and 2009 were reviewed. Inclusion criteria were...