THE FORMATION OF MACROCYTES AND MICROCYTES FROM RED CORPUSCLES IN HANGING DROP PREPARATIONS

In hanging drop preparations of normal blood from various species of animals including man, the following processes were directly observed for the first time: 1. The process of fusion between two red corpuscles so as to form a round or slightly oval macrocyte with normal hemoglobin content, a diame...

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Main Author: Auer, John
Format: Online
Language:English
Published: The Rockefeller University Press 1932
Online Access:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2132182/
id pubmed-2132182
recordtype oai_dc
spelling pubmed-21321822008-04-18 THE FORMATION OF MACROCYTES AND MICROCYTES FROM RED CORPUSCLES IN HANGING DROP PREPARATIONS Auer, John Article In hanging drop preparations of normal blood from various species of animals including man, the following processes were directly observed for the first time: 1. The process of fusion between two red corpuscles so as to form a round or slightly oval macrocyte with normal hemoglobin content, a diameter of 10µ± and no delle. These macrocytes appear to be slightly thicker in the centre than at the periphery. No thickness measurements could be made. 2. The process of fusion between two microcytes each 5µ± in diameter, so as to form a red corpuscle of approximately normal size but with dense hemoglobin and no delle. 3. The process of fusion between a red corpuscle and a microcyte, forming a macrocyte slightly larger than a normal red corpuscle and exhibiting a normal hemoglobin tint but no delle. 4. The process of microcyte formation from red corpuscles was seen occurring in four different ways: (a) By the intermittent compression of a single red corpuscle by the pull of three or more fibrin threads attached to the corpuscle. (b) By the steady, continuous compression of a single red corpuscle by the pull of two polar fibrin threads, (c) By intermittent rises of intracorpuscular pressure in a red corpuscle due to trauma, (d) By avulsion and retraction or contraction of the hemoglobin stroma from the intact surface layer of a red corpuscle. Thickness measurements in single microcytes were made in rabbit blood. 5. The process of a typical microcyte with dense hemoglobin and no delle changing back to a fairly large red corpuscle with practically normal hemoglobin tint and with a delle. 6. Macrocytes were seen expelling their hemoglobin in a fraction of a second and turning into shadows which were often paler than the background, but without any decrease in the visible surface area or change in the contour. 7. Extensibility and retractibility (or perhaps relaxation and contraction) may be exhibited by the corpuscle as a whole, by local sections of both surface layer and stroma, or retractility (contractility (?)) may be shown by the hemoglobin stroma alone. On the basis of observational evidence it is inferred that: 1. The surface layer of a red corpuscle is probably a condensed stroma rather than an anatomically defined membrane. 2. A pigment, probably hemoglobin, is present in the surface layer. 3. The surface layer of red corpuscles becomes rigid before or during spontaneous hemolysis. 4. Hemoglobin exists in an undissolved form in the intact red corpuscle. 5. The transverse diameter of microcytes (5µ±) represents the maximal shortening of which this diameter is capable in normal red corpuscles of man, rabbit and guinea pig under the conditions studied. 6. Fusing red corpuscle are destroyed by repeated washings with Ringer solution. 7. In stagnating blood there is no increase in fusion forms, nor in the production of microcytes. The Rockefeller University Press 1932-09-30 /pmc/articles/PMC2132182/ /pubmed/19870085 Text en Copyright © Copyright, 1932, by The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research New York This article is distributed under the terms of an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike–No Mirror Sites license for the first six months after the publication date (see http://www.rupress.org/terms). After six months it is available under a Creative Commons License (Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 4.0 Unported license, as described at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).
repository_type Open Access Journal
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution US National Center for Biotechnology Information
building NCBI PubMed
collection Online Access
language English
format Online
author Auer, John
spellingShingle Auer, John
THE FORMATION OF MACROCYTES AND MICROCYTES FROM RED CORPUSCLES IN HANGING DROP PREPARATIONS
author_facet Auer, John
author_sort Auer, John
title THE FORMATION OF MACROCYTES AND MICROCYTES FROM RED CORPUSCLES IN HANGING DROP PREPARATIONS
title_short THE FORMATION OF MACROCYTES AND MICROCYTES FROM RED CORPUSCLES IN HANGING DROP PREPARATIONS
title_full THE FORMATION OF MACROCYTES AND MICROCYTES FROM RED CORPUSCLES IN HANGING DROP PREPARATIONS
title_fullStr THE FORMATION OF MACROCYTES AND MICROCYTES FROM RED CORPUSCLES IN HANGING DROP PREPARATIONS
title_full_unstemmed THE FORMATION OF MACROCYTES AND MICROCYTES FROM RED CORPUSCLES IN HANGING DROP PREPARATIONS
title_sort formation of macrocytes and microcytes from red corpuscles in hanging drop preparations
description In hanging drop preparations of normal blood from various species of animals including man, the following processes were directly observed for the first time: 1. The process of fusion between two red corpuscles so as to form a round or slightly oval macrocyte with normal hemoglobin content, a diameter of 10µ± and no delle. These macrocytes appear to be slightly thicker in the centre than at the periphery. No thickness measurements could be made. 2. The process of fusion between two microcytes each 5µ± in diameter, so as to form a red corpuscle of approximately normal size but with dense hemoglobin and no delle. 3. The process of fusion between a red corpuscle and a microcyte, forming a macrocyte slightly larger than a normal red corpuscle and exhibiting a normal hemoglobin tint but no delle. 4. The process of microcyte formation from red corpuscles was seen occurring in four different ways: (a) By the intermittent compression of a single red corpuscle by the pull of three or more fibrin threads attached to the corpuscle. (b) By the steady, continuous compression of a single red corpuscle by the pull of two polar fibrin threads, (c) By intermittent rises of intracorpuscular pressure in a red corpuscle due to trauma, (d) By avulsion and retraction or contraction of the hemoglobin stroma from the intact surface layer of a red corpuscle. Thickness measurements in single microcytes were made in rabbit blood. 5. The process of a typical microcyte with dense hemoglobin and no delle changing back to a fairly large red corpuscle with practically normal hemoglobin tint and with a delle. 6. Macrocytes were seen expelling their hemoglobin in a fraction of a second and turning into shadows which were often paler than the background, but without any decrease in the visible surface area or change in the contour. 7. Extensibility and retractibility (or perhaps relaxation and contraction) may be exhibited by the corpuscle as a whole, by local sections of both surface layer and stroma, or retractility (contractility (?)) may be shown by the hemoglobin stroma alone. On the basis of observational evidence it is inferred that: 1. The surface layer of a red corpuscle is probably a condensed stroma rather than an anatomically defined membrane. 2. A pigment, probably hemoglobin, is present in the surface layer. 3. The surface layer of red corpuscles becomes rigid before or during spontaneous hemolysis. 4. Hemoglobin exists in an undissolved form in the intact red corpuscle. 5. The transverse diameter of microcytes (5µ±) represents the maximal shortening of which this diameter is capable in normal red corpuscles of man, rabbit and guinea pig under the conditions studied. 6. Fusing red corpuscle are destroyed by repeated washings with Ringer solution. 7. In stagnating blood there is no increase in fusion forms, nor in the production of microcytes.
publisher The Rockefeller University Press
publishDate 1932
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2132182/
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