[Instant effect of temperature on the oxygen carrying capacity of single living intact red blood cell].

The instant effect of temperature on the absorption spectra of the hemoglobin in single living intact red blood cells was investigated, by employing a highly sensitive fast multi-channel micro-spectrophotometer system to perform non-invasive, in situ, real time measurements on the cells. It was found that both the heights and position of the specific peaks in the absorption spectra of intercellular hemoglobin were changed with temperature, indicating that the oxygen carrying capacity of red blood cells varies with temperature. The correlations of the structure and concentration as well as the function of hemoglobin, and the molecular mechanism were also discussed.