MEMBRANE ELECTROFUSION YIELDS IN MEMBRANE-FRACTIONS OBTAINED WITH A COLLOID-OSMOTIC HEMOLYSIS AND ELECTROHEMOLYSIS PROCEDURE

Electrofusion yields in two subpopulations of erythrocyte ghosts, as obtained by fractionation based on either electroporation sensitivity or osmotic fragility, are not significantly different. This implies that whatever membrane property responds to electroporation or osmotic fragility, that property does not also modulate electrofusion yield. Other experiments showed that, unlike osmotic-based hemolysis, electrohemolysis of erythrocytes is accompanied by a cell volume increase, due to swelling, which does not exceed 120%-125% of the control volume while pure osmotic swelling can easily increase the volume up to 150%-160% of the control volume. Also, control experiments involving osmotic hemolysis of erythrocytes can be used to develop a simple and convenient method to estimate the relative volume fraction occupied by hemoglobin in erythrocytes.