Fig. 1

Impaired erythropoiesis and red blood cell fitness in Slc7a7 knockout mice. a–f Complete blood count analysis of only UBC-Cre-ERT2, control and Slc7a7^KO mice after 10 days on a low-protein diet. Hemoglobin (Hb), hematocrit (Hct), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), red blood cell count (RBC) and reticulocyte count are shown. g Representative brightfield images from three independent experiments of blood smears from control and Slc7a7^KO mice. The quantification of the erythrocyte area is presented in the adjacent bar graph. h Flow cytometry analysis of bone marrow erythropoiesis. Bone marrow cells were labeled with antibodies against CD44 and Ter-119 to identify erythroid progenitors across five maturation stages (I–V). Slc7a7^KO mice presented a significant increase in Stage V precursors (P < 0.0001), whereas Stages I–IV were not significantly different, although there is a noticeable trend towards reduction. The data are presented as the means ± SEMs and were analyzed via two-way ANOVA. Representative results from four independent experiments are shown. i Lactate dehydrogenase and j total bilirubin levels in the serum of control and Slc7a7^KO mice. k Annexin-V and l CD47 levels in RBCs from control and Slc7a7^KO mice. m Mean fluorescence intensity of RBCs from control and Slc7a7^KO mice in response to CM-H2DCFDA. n Percentages of hemolysis in control and Slc7a7^KO mice in response to increasing concentrations of NaCl (0–0.7%). Unless specified, all the data are presented as the means ± SEMs. Statistical analysis was performed via a two-tailed unpaired Student’s t test. Each data point represents an individual animal