Reversible and irreversible structural modifications of erythrocyte membrane.

Membrane glycoprotein structure regulates the fate in the circulation of mammalian erythrocytes: the mechanism of this phenomenon was observed in rabbit and human red cells by in vivo and in vitro experiments. Glycoprotein remodeling can occur as a reversible desialylation process, produced by different events, or as an irreversible process consisting in a loss of sialoglycopeptides. The effect of these two phenomena on the viability of the red cell in the circulation was the subject of our investigation.