Determination of Glycoconjugate Residues of Erythrocytes at Different Age Groups of Rats.

Abstract

Aging is a time-dependent process that contains cell injury caused by molecular damages and eventually functional impairment of tissues and organs. The possible roles of cell surface carbohydrates, which are very important molecules in cell to cell and/or cell to extracellular matrix recognition, on aging process are not yet clear. In this study, glycoconjugate alterations of membrane glycoproteins of erythrocytes in aging organism were evaluated with lectin histochemistry and lectin blotting studies in 1, 4 and 7 months old rats. Lectin histochemistry results indicated that α(2→3) and α(2→6)-linked sialic acids are intensively found in erythrocyte membranes, but this intensity of sialic acids decreases with age. Similar evidences were obtained from lectin blotting studies which performed with same lectins. These results suggest that sialic acid reactivity alters with the age of organism. We thought that (a) sialic acid containing glycoconjugates altered not only with erythrocyte senescence, but also aging process of organism or (b) the number of sialic acid containing erythrocytes decreased by age.