Oxidation as a possible mechanism of cellular aging: vitamin E deficiency causes premature aging and IgG binding to erythrocytes.

Senescent-cell antigen is a "neo-antigen" that appears on the surface of senescent cells and initiates IgG binding and cellular removal. As an approach to evaluating oxidation as a possible mechanism for generation of senescent-cell antigen, we studied erythrocytes from vitamin E-deficient rats. Vitamin E is localized primarily in cellular membranes. Its major role is the termination of free-radical chain reactions propagated by the polyunsaturated fatty acids of membrane propagated by the polyunsaturated fatty acids of membrane phospholipids. Results of our studies indicate that erythrocytes of all ages from vitamin E-deficient rats behave like old erythrocytes from normal rats, as determined by their susceptibility to phagocytosis, IgG binding, anion transport ability, and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase activity. Increased breakdown products of band 3 were observed with immunoblotting in membranes of erythrocytes from vitamin E-deficient rats. Breakdown products of band 3 are known to increase as cells age in normal individuals. The data suggest that oxidation may be a possible mechanism for erythrocyte aging and generation of senescent-cell antigen in vivo.