Ch. 9 - RBC Membrane Flashcards
RBC deformability depends on _____, _____, and _____.
RBC geometry Cytoplasmic (hemoglobin) viscosity Membrane elasticity (pliancy)
RBCs have an average of 90fL volume and 140 um^2 surface area, a 40% excess of surface area. This excess surface-to-volume ratio enables RBCs to stretch undamaged up to ___ times their resting diameter.
2.5
What is the normal range value of mean cell hemoglobin concentration?
32% to 36%
As concentration rises, viscosity (rises, decreases, does not change)
Rises
Hemoglobin concentrations above ___% compromise deformability and shorten the RBC life span, because the more viscous cells cannot accommodate to narrow capillaries or splenic pores
36
RBCs with high concentrations of hemoglobin and therefore cannot pass through the splenic pores, is destroyed by _____.
Splenic macrophages
The RBC membrane consists of approximately:
___% carbohydrates
___% proteins
___% lipids
8
52
40
This portion of the RBC membrane is composed of equal parts or cholesterol and phospholipids and forms a bilayer universal to all animal cells.
Lipid portion
What are the two parts of the bilayer formed in the RBC membrane?
Hydrophilic polar head groups
Hydrophobic non-polar acyl tail
This is esterified and largely hydrophobic and resides parallel to the acyl tails of the phospholipids. This confers tensile strength to the lipid bilayer.
Cholesterol
The only hydrophilic portion of cholesterol molecule; this anchors within the polar head groups l, while the rest of the molecule intercalates among and parallel to the acyl tails
Cholesterol B (beta) hydroxyl group
These enzymes maintain the cholesterol concentration by regularly exchanging membrane and plasma cholesterol.
Membrane enzymes
As cholesterol rises, the membrane (gains/loses) strength but (gains/loses) elasticity
Gains
Loses
What are the four main phospholipids found in the bilayer?
Sphingomyelin
Phosphatidylcholine
Phosphatidylserine (PS)
Phosphatidylethanolamine
What phospholipids are found mostly in the outer layer of the bilayer?
Sphingomyelin
Phosphatidylcholine
What phospholipids are found mostly in the inner layer of the bilayer?
Phosphatidylserine (PS)
Phosphatidylethanolamine
Distribution of the phospholipids is energy dependent, relying on a number of membrane-associated enzymes called _____, _____, and _____..
Flippases
Floppases
Scramblases
The only negatively charged phospholipid; redistributes (flips) to the outer layer when phospholipid distribution is disrupted.
Phosphatidylserine (PS)
Enumerate instances wherein phospholipid distribution is disrupted.
Sickle cell anemia
Thalassemia
RBCs that have reached the end of their 120-day life span
What type of macrophages possess receptors that bind phosphatidylserine (PS) and destroys senescent RBCs?
Splenic macrophages
These are sugar bearing lipids that make up 5% of the external half of the RBC membrane.
Glycolipids
They associate in clumps or rafts and support carbohydrate side chains that extend into the aqueous plasma to help form the glycocalyx.
Glycolipids
This is a layer of carbohydrates whose net negative charge prevents microbial attack and protects the RBC from mechanical damage caused by adhesion to neighboring RBCs or to the endothelium.
Glycocalyx
These two types of RBC membrane proteins make up 52% of the membrane structure by mass.
Transmembranous (integral)
Skeletal (cytoskeletal, peripheral)
A type of membrane protein that, through glycosylation, supports surface carbohydrates, which join with glycolipids to make up the protective glycocalyx.
Transmembranous proteins
A type of membrane protein that serve as transport and adhesion sites and signaling receptors.
Transmembranous proteins
Any disruption in transport protein function changes the osmotic tension of the cytoplasm, which leads to a (rise/decrease) in viscosity and (increase/loss) of deformability.
Rise
Loss
This is the process wherein signaling receptors bind plasma ligands and trigger energy activation of submembranous G proteins that then initiate various energy-dependent cellular activities.
Signaling transduction