Changes of cell shape and surface charge topography in ATP-depleted human red blood cells.

ATP depletion crenates human red blood cells. With ferritin-avidin (FA) and cationized ferritin (CF) cell surface labeling, it is demonstrated that the discocyte----crenated shape transformation alters the two-dimensional topography of negative charge sites. With restoration of ATP levels, cell shape and charge topography return to normal. Concurrent changes in red cell shape and surface charge topography can be explained by associations between membrane integral proteins and the red cell cytoskeleton.