Fragmentation of Red Cells and Ghosts in Urea Solutions, with a Note on Electrophoresis Patterns

Abstract

In solutions between saturation and 25% saturation, urea produces fragmentation of red cells (normal human red cells, human red cells from cases of sickle cell anemia and thalassemia, camel red cells, and chicken red cells), with a remarkable development of myelin forms. The fragmentation often appears before the cells hemolyse. The lipo-proteins of the red cell are solubilized by urea, and several components other than Hb, can be prepared from urea-treated red cell ghosts and demonstrated electro-phoretically.