A PROGRESSIVE REACTION OCCURRING WITH A RADIOACTIVE HEMOLYSIN, SODIUM OLEATE-I(131)

Sodium oleate reacts progressively with human red cells at pH 7. By progressive is meant a reaction which is not adequately described as reversible or irreversible; such reactions cannot be stopped once they are under way, and are probably associated with a more or less stable "internal" lysin phase at the cell surfaces. The uptake of the lysin and the effect of dilution on the uptake can be studied by converting sodium oleate into the radioactive form, sodium oleate-I(131). The uptake is a parabolic function of the lysin initially present in the system, and the effect of a tenfold dilution of systems in which red cells have remained in contact with the lysin for 2 minutes is to reduce the lysin taken up at the cell surfaces twofold. The lysin rapidly forms a relatively stable layer at the cell interfaces, and this layer is little affected by the dilution of the system as a whole.