Effect of substances with cryoprotective properties on surface marker CD44 in human erythrocytes

The changes in surface marker CD44 in human erythrocytes exposed to cryoprotective media, as well as the impact of oxidative modification of membrane-cytoskeleton proteins on the CD44 characteristics under the changed physicochemical parameters of the cellular environment, were investigated in this study. Prolonged exposure of glycerol, DMSO, sucrose, and PEG-1500 caused a decrease in CD44 expression level and in amount of CD44-positive cells. That may reflect subtle rearrangements in the system of protein–protein interactions in the erythrocyte membrane-cytoskeleton complex, which may affect the stability of cells during cryopreservation. Extracellular substances (sucrose and PEG-1500) exhibited a more pronounced effect on the CD44 in erythrocytes in comparison with the examined substances of an intacellular type. Modification of membrane-cytoskeleton proteins with oxidizing bifunctional reagent diamide enhanced the identified tendencies.