Hemoglobins in single chick erythrocytes as determined by a differential elution procedure

Abstract

The switch from embryonic to adult hemoglobin (Hb) has been studied in vivo by a correlated cytological and electrophoretic analysis of circulating red blood cells from early, purely embryonic-Hb stages to purely adult-Hb stages including the adult chicken. It has been discovered, by using an acid buffer treatment that selectively elutes adult but not embryonic Hb from intact red blood cells, that embryonic and adult Hbs occur together in single cells, and that the switch occurs simultaneously in all cells. These results together with knowledge of the chick erythroid cell dynamics and ontogenetic titers indicate that the initiation of adult Hb synthesis occurs in the circulation in cells previously committed only to embryonic Hb synthesis.