Surface electric characteristics of guinea-pig polymorphonuclear leucocytes

The charge distribution in the surface region and the isoelectric point of guinea-pig polymorphonuclear leucocytes were investigated on the basis of their electrophoretic mobility data at different pH values and ionic strengths of the medium. As a result, it was shown that the distribution of the negative charges arising from the acidic groups is fairly uniform while the positive charges arising from the basic groups increase with increasing inward distance from the boundary of the surface region and the medium, and that the isoelectric point is dependent on the ionic strength of the medium. The dependence of the isoelectric point on the ionic strength was found to decrease after the cells were treated with neuraminidase.