The Liquid Crystals of Deoxygenated Sickel-Cell Hemoglobin

Gels of deoxygenated sickle-cell hemoglobin appear to be a collection of rodlike particles which are equivalent with those fibers widely accepted to be present in these gels. These particles start to align at some peculiar points such as the edges of a quartz spacer in an optical cell, are oriented perpendicular to the edges, and form structures that satisfy the descriptions of liquid crystals of the nematic type. Ordering of the liquid crystals is more uniform when the solution thickness is smaller. Rubbing of the surfaces and edges of spacer prior to its insertion into the optical cell also enhances the ordering of these liquid crystals.