Studies on the Viscosity of Sensitized Erythrocyte Suspensions

[摘要] According to the present state of our knowledge, the alterations produced by agglutinins on bacteria and other cells may occur in quite different ways. It is possible (1) that the agglutinin reduces or neutralizes the electric charge of the cells; (2) that the agglutinin alters the cells by decomposing the protective membranes by which they are held in suspension, or by dehydrating the cellproteins, so that they behave like unprotected inorganic suspensions and are readily precipitated by salts and other electrolytes; (3) that the agglutinin increases the force of attraction between the cells (this force is supposedly exerted by the surface tension of the cells and is termed by Northrop and DeKruif as “cohesive force”). This is in short the present state of the problem we are dealing with as it was developed by a great number of investigators, among them Bechhold (1), Bordet (2), Field and Teague (3), Mansfield (4), Tulloch (5), etc., and particularly by Northrop and DeKruif (6).

[学科分类] 生物科学（综合）