The oligomeric state of spectrin in the rat erythrocyte membrane skeleton.

The oligomeric state of spectrin in the erythrocyte membrane skeleton of the rat was investigated following extraction in a low ionic strength buffer for 24 and 96 h. All analyses were quantitatively compared with preparations from human erythrocyte membranes. After nondenaturing agarose-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, the human samples revealed their characteristic spectrin oligomer pattern; there were high molecular weight complexes near the origin of the gel, followed by several high order oligomers, tetramers, and dimers. The pattern in the rat membrane skeleton also included tetramers and a high molecular weight complex band, but had only one oligomer and no dimers. With time the high molecular weight complex diminished and oligomers accumulated in both the rat and human, while dimers accumulated only in the human and tetramers accumulated only in the rat. Tetramers decreased with time in the human. Extraction of spectrin increased with time and was greater from rat than the human red cell membrane at both time points. The percentage of spectrin and actin in the low ionic strength extract was similar between species, as analyzed by SDS-polyacrylamide electrophoresis, staining, and densitometry. Proteins 4.1 and 4.9 were present in greater percentages in the human. The only temporal effect on monomeric protein composition was an increase of protein A in the rat. There was no species difference in protein A percentage at 24 h, but at 96 h the rat was greater than the human. The results suggest that there are significant differences in the structural arrangement of the rat and human erythrocyte membrane skeleton.