Electrophoretic Mobility of Red Cells and Their Ghosts as Observed with Improved Apparatus

This paper is concerned with the application of two new techniques, both of which depend essentially on improved instrumentation, to the study of the electrophoretic mobility of red cells and their ghosts. The first technique has been developed to overcome difficulties which are encountered in the measurement of the mobility of ghosts. If the ghosts are substantially haemoglobinized, they can be seen, although with some difficulty, with the ordinary microscope and their mobility can be measured in an electrophoresis cell such as that described by Abramson (1934); if they are relatively Hb-free, on the other hand, they are almost invisible under the ordinary microscope, and can be seen satisfactorily only with phase contrast. The great majority of existing measurements of the mobility of ghosts, accordingly, are measurements of the mobility of ghosts which contain relatively large amounts of Hb. The new vertical cell to be described uses phase-contrast optics, and is fitted with removable electrodes which have several advantages over those usually employed. The second technique is the result of the observation that the Antweiler electrophoresis apparatus with a Philpot-Svensson attachment, although designed for the separation and observation of the mobilities of protein fractions, can also be used for measuring the relative mobilities of red cells and their ghosts.