Oxidative Stress in Autistic Children Alters Erythrocyte Shape in the Absence of Quantitative Protein Alterations and of Loss of Membrane Phospholipid Asymmetry

Figure 5

(a) A representative Western blot where anti-band 3 and anti-stomatin antibodies were used to quantitate specific proteins separated by SDS-PAGE; β-actin was used as loading control. The gel was a precast 4–15% polyacrylamide gel. TD: four RBC samples from typically developing children; ASD: four RBC samples from children affected by autistic spectrum disorder. (b) Densitometry showing the intensity of specific protein bands relative to the corresponding β-actin band. Ghost samples from all patients and controls were examined. Differences between TD and ASD RBC were not statistically significant.

(a) Western blot of RBC membrane proteins

(b) Band 3 and stomatin protein expression