Fig. 5
AFM topographical images of local structures of individual erythrocyte membrane ghosts fixed by glutaraldehyde. A A representative membrane ghost of normal erythrocytes. B A representative membrane ghost of erythrocytes from sickle cell anemia patients. From left to right panels: Entire membrane ghosts, local structures (3 μm × 3 μm), and smaller local structures (1 μm × 1 μm), respectively. C Height profiles of the cross sections of individual normal (left) and sickle (right) membrane ghosts. D Quantitative analysis of average roughness of the local surfaces (n = 30; ***P < 0.001)