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Red blood cell membranes: Structure, function, clinical implications
Cell, Vol. 58, 1025, September
22, 1989, Copyright
0 1989 by Cell Press
Book Review
Red Cell Membrane Update Red Blood Cell Membranes: Structure, Function, Clinical Implications. Edited by P. Agre and J. C. Parker. New York: Marcel Dekker. (1989). 780 pp. $150.00.
This collection of 24 review articles addresses the question: what has the red blood cell membrane done for us lately? It is the eleventh volume of a series entitled Hematology edited by K. M. Brinkhous and S. A. Stas. In the introduction and preface, the series editors and volume editors (Agre and Parker) aptly describe its contents and their manifold intentions to provide an update in specialized information for reference by the clinician, investigator, teacher, and student, thereby serving both the fields of hematology and cell biology at large. The contributions are diverse but cluster around a few timely themes. Ten chapters are devoted to transport systems that have proved to be particularly tractable in the erythrocyte: those for glucose, anions, nucleosides, Na+/K+, Ca*+, coupled ion movements, and cell volume homeostasis. Eight contributions treat the red cell membrane skeleton-its constituent proteins and their genes, the associations of these proteins, the architecture of the ensemble, and the mechanical and pathophysiological consequences of inherited abnormalities in its fabric. In particular, a variety of inherited hemolytic anemias and red cell shape abnormalities can now be understood in terms of specific molecular defects in different skeletal proteins. Another three contributions deal with physical and mechanical manifestations of the interplay of the membrane skeleton with the bilayer: constraints on the lateral mobility of membrane proteins and lipids, the shape of the erythrocyte, and red cell viscoelasticity and rheology. Finally, there are specialized reviews on the transferrin receptor, red cell membrane antigens, and the association of native and denatured hemoglobin with band 3. In the last of these, the authors consider the hypothesis that aggregates of denatured hemoglobin stabilize clusters of the transmembrane band 3 protein, fostering the binding of circulating senescence autoantibodies; the antibodies bound at the cell surface are thought to trigger the clearance of aged red cells from the circulation by phagocytosis. The articles are generally expert and well documented. The quality of the layout, editing, and reproductions is quite good. A very minor qualm of mine is that the sequence of the articles in the volume appears to be random, or perhaps temporal, rather than ordered by topic. For the specialist, this compilation offers the most recent of an unending stream of review volumes (featuring many of the same subjects and authors) that flows from diverse sources with a roughly annual rhythm. Redundancy notwithstanding, those seeking the latest word on
diverse current issues will value this volume. In the broader context, hematologists who consult this collection as a guide will thrill to the depth of knowledge now at hand regarding the erythrocyte membrane in health and disease. What will this collection mean to the average reader of this journal? Cell biologists have long appreciated the red cell and its envelope as a fountainhead in the search for general principles underlying cell structure, function, and formation. Not only does the red cell membrane remain the only plasma membrane whose molecular organization is known in satisfying detail, but the gap continues to grow. Furthermore, homologs of proteins once thought to be characteristic of the red cell membrane (such as spectrin, ankyrin, band 3, and band 4.1) are now being widely characterized in a variety of eukaryotic cells; it would be rash to regard any of the proteins of this membrane as unique to the erythrocyte. The red cell offers special attractions. There is power in the continuity that unites the study of cells fresh from the patient’s arm, intact ghost membranes, inside-out and right-side-out vesicles, isolated membrane skeletons, and solubilized and reconstituted proteins in normal and disease states in man and his kin. The erythrocyte also lends itself to a precise kinetic analysis of membrane transport by virtue of its exceptional uniformity, dispersibility, durability, and single-compartment simplicity. In addition, some of its transporters are particularly abundant. As is well illustrated in this volume, molecular genetics can be readily applied to this system. Finally, the mechanical properties of this cell and its membrane-and the molecular correlates thereof- have been analyzed and rationalized at a level unrivaled elsewhere in biology. The recent progress summarized in this volume encourages optimism. To cite just one example, we can look forward to a deep understanding of the molecular events attending the primary elaboration of the membrane skeleton during red cell maturation; the evolution of its contour as reticulocytes become biconcave disks; and the reshaping of the skeleton during prolonged cell deformation, as in acanthocytosis and sickle cell disease. Theodore L. Steck Department of Biochemistry University of Chicago Chicago, Illinois 80837
and Molecular Biology
22, 1989, Copyright
0 1989 by Cell Press
Book Review
Red Cell Membrane Update Red Blood Cell Membranes: Structure, Function, Clinical Implications. Edited by P. Agre and J. C. Parker. New York: Marcel Dekker. (1989). 780 pp. $150.00.
This collection of 24 review articles addresses the question: what has the red blood cell membrane done for us lately? It is the eleventh volume of a series entitled Hematology edited by K. M. Brinkhous and S. A. Stas. In the introduction and preface, the series editors and volume editors (Agre and Parker) aptly describe its contents and their manifold intentions to provide an update in specialized information for reference by the clinician, investigator, teacher, and student, thereby serving both the fields of hematology and cell biology at large. The contributions are diverse but cluster around a few timely themes. Ten chapters are devoted to transport systems that have proved to be particularly tractable in the erythrocyte: those for glucose, anions, nucleosides, Na+/K+, Ca*+, coupled ion movements, and cell volume homeostasis. Eight contributions treat the red cell membrane skeleton-its constituent proteins and their genes, the associations of these proteins, the architecture of the ensemble, and the mechanical and pathophysiological consequences of inherited abnormalities in its fabric. In particular, a variety of inherited hemolytic anemias and red cell shape abnormalities can now be understood in terms of specific molecular defects in different skeletal proteins. Another three contributions deal with physical and mechanical manifestations of the interplay of the membrane skeleton with the bilayer: constraints on the lateral mobility of membrane proteins and lipids, the shape of the erythrocyte, and red cell viscoelasticity and rheology. Finally, there are specialized reviews on the transferrin receptor, red cell membrane antigens, and the association of native and denatured hemoglobin with band 3. In the last of these, the authors consider the hypothesis that aggregates of denatured hemoglobin stabilize clusters of the transmembrane band 3 protein, fostering the binding of circulating senescence autoantibodies; the antibodies bound at the cell surface are thought to trigger the clearance of aged red cells from the circulation by phagocytosis. The articles are generally expert and well documented. The quality of the layout, editing, and reproductions is quite good. A very minor qualm of mine is that the sequence of the articles in the volume appears to be random, or perhaps temporal, rather than ordered by topic. For the specialist, this compilation offers the most recent of an unending stream of review volumes (featuring many of the same subjects and authors) that flows from diverse sources with a roughly annual rhythm. Redundancy notwithstanding, those seeking the latest word on
diverse current issues will value this volume. In the broader context, hematologists who consult this collection as a guide will thrill to the depth of knowledge now at hand regarding the erythrocyte membrane in health and disease. What will this collection mean to the average reader of this journal? Cell biologists have long appreciated the red cell and its envelope as a fountainhead in the search for general principles underlying cell structure, function, and formation. Not only does the red cell membrane remain the only plasma membrane whose molecular organization is known in satisfying detail, but the gap continues to grow. Furthermore, homologs of proteins once thought to be characteristic of the red cell membrane (such as spectrin, ankyrin, band 3, and band 4.1) are now being widely characterized in a variety of eukaryotic cells; it would be rash to regard any of the proteins of this membrane as unique to the erythrocyte. The red cell offers special attractions. There is power in the continuity that unites the study of cells fresh from the patient’s arm, intact ghost membranes, inside-out and right-side-out vesicles, isolated membrane skeletons, and solubilized and reconstituted proteins in normal and disease states in man and his kin. The erythrocyte also lends itself to a precise kinetic analysis of membrane transport by virtue of its exceptional uniformity, dispersibility, durability, and single-compartment simplicity. In addition, some of its transporters are particularly abundant. As is well illustrated in this volume, molecular genetics can be readily applied to this system. Finally, the mechanical properties of this cell and its membrane-and the molecular correlates thereof- have been analyzed and rationalized at a level unrivaled elsewhere in biology. The recent progress summarized in this volume encourages optimism. To cite just one example, we can look forward to a deep understanding of the molecular events attending the primary elaboration of the membrane skeleton during red cell maturation; the evolution of its contour as reticulocytes become biconcave disks; and the reshaping of the skeleton during prolonged cell deformation, as in acanthocytosis and sickle cell disease. Theodore L. Steck Department of Biochemistry University of Chicago Chicago, Illinois 80837
and Molecular Biology