Accelerating metabolism and transmembrane cation flux by distorting red blood cells.

ABSTRACT: Under static conditions, mammalian red blood cells (RBCs) require a continuous supply of energy, typically via glucose, to maintain their biconcave disc shape. Mechanical distortion, in a complementary way, should lead to increased energy demand that is manifest in accelerated glycolysis. The experimental challenge in observing this phenomenon was met by reversibly and reproducibly distorting the cells and noninvasively measuring glycolytic flux. This was done with a gel-distorting device that was coupled with 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. We measured [3-13C]l-lactate production from [1,6-13C]d-glucose in the RBCs suspended in gelatin gels, and up to 90% rate enhancements were recorded. Thus, for the first time, we present experiments that demonstrate the linkage of me

SUBMITTER: Kuchel PW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5647125 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature