THE MECHANISM OF MITOCHONDRIAL EXTRUSION FROM PHENYLHYDRAZINE-INDUCED RETICULOCYTES IN THE CIRCULATING BLOOD

The mechanism of mitochondrial extrusion from reticulocytes was studied in whole blood from dogs made anemic by treatment with phenylhydrazine hydrochloride. The initial stage of preparation for mitochondrial extrusion was attraction of vesicles to mitochondria. There was subsequent encirclement of the organelle and other bodies, such as ferritin, by coalesced vesicles forming double membrane-limited vacuoles. Large vacuoles were formed from the union of single vacuoles, and they were usually situated near the periphery of the cell. Fusion of the outer membrane of vacuoles with the plasmalemma of the reticulocyte provided a route for exposure and release of mitochondria and other material to an extracellular location. An extracellular mitochondrion, therefore, was confined by its original double membrane, and a third membrane was derived from the internal boundary of vacuoles.