Summary
Surface multivesicular structures associated with the plasmalemma of erythrocytes were observed in the peripheral blood of rats which have a significant number of circulating reticulocytes. These surface structures appear as ovoid evaginations (0.2 to 0.7 μ in diameter) of the plasma membrane and contain numerous small vesicles ranging from 0.05 to 0.1 μ in diameter. The structures were present during the final stages of maturation of erythrocytes, after nuclei and mitochondria had been extruded and only a few polysomes and small vesicles remained. They appear quite distinct from the autophagic vacuoles which have been described in association with degeneration and extrusion of mitochondria from erythrocytes. The exact origin of the small internal vesicles of these surface multivesicular structures is unknown; however, similar vesicles have been observed in the cytoplasm of the maturing erythrocyte especially in the vicinity of the Golgi body. These structures suggest a process by which Golgi elements and other small cytoplasmic vesicles are extruded during the late stages of maturation of rat erythrocytes.
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Supported by U.S. Public Health Service Research Grant AM 12950.
The author is indebted to Dr. Edward G. Rennels and Dr. William B. Winborn for their guidance.
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Seelig, L.L. Surface multivesicular structures associated with maturing erythrocytes in rats. Z.Zellforsch 133, 181–186 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00307140
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00307140