Red blood cell homeostasis: recognition of distinct types of damaged homologous red blood cells by a mouse macrophage cell line.

Abstract

The mouse macrophage (M phi) cell line IC-21 preferentially ingests a subpopulation of homologous red blood cells (MRBC) from normal mice. This subpopulation presumably bears the so-called transfusion lesion, a consequence of damage acquired during the drawing and processing of blood. To determine if all damaged MRBC were recognized by a common receptor site on IC-21 M phi, we prepared suspensions of MRBC damaged in vitro by treatment with tannic acid and compared the phagocytic uptake of these cells with those bearing the transfusion lesion. Trypsin treatment of IC-21 M phi rendered them unable to recognize MRBC bearing the transfusion lesion; but it had no effect on the uptake of tannic acid-damaged MRBC, showing that IC-21 M phi have separate recognition sites for these two populations of damaged MRBC.