Erythrocytes from Animals with Genetic Muscular Dystrophy

EFFECTS of congenital muscular dystrophy include changes in processes associated with membrane systems of muscle 1,2 . Moreover, there is evidence that genetic dystrophy in mice, which appears to be a suitable model for the human disease 3 , is associated with alteration of membrane events occurring in other tissue as well 4–8 . For example, we have reported altered proton permeability and related functions in liver mitochondria isolated from animals with the disease 5 . As aberrant membrane permeability could lead to the pathological state of muscle by producing defective excitation coupling, it is interesting to examine other tissues for evidence of systemic membrane dysfunction. We report here surface alterations of erythrocytes from dystrophic mice as revealed by scanning electron microscopy.