Opposite effects of electroporation of red blood cell membranes under the influence of zinc ions

The goal of the study was to investigate the effects of zinc ions of various concentrations on the nanostructure of membrane of red blood cells in in vitro experiment. The suspension of red blood cells extracted from whole human blood was used. The calibrated electroporation and the atomic force microscopy (AFM) were used to analyse damage to membrane nanostructure. We studied the haemolysis after the electroporation at different zinc concentrations. A low concentration of zinc (0.15-0.5 mM) increased significantly the rate of haemolysis and reduced the residual level of non-haemolyzed cells. At high concentrations of zinc ions (0.5-10 mM), the rate constant was sharply reduced, at the same time the residual level increased. The relationship between haemoglobin coagulants and the zinc concentration was examined. High concentration of zinc caused haemoglobin aggregation. It was shown by AFM that the membrane nanostructure was essentially changed. It was experimentally established that there existed a special point of zinc concentration C = 0.5 +- 0.1 mM at which the course of the conjugate processes on the membranes of red blood cells was changed.