Blood film Giemsa stain. Wright-Giemsa combination stain is also a popular choice. These stains allow for the detection of white blood cell, red blood cell, and platelet abnormalities. Hematopathologists often use other specialized stains to aid in the differential diagnosis of blood disorders. After staining, the monolayer is viewed under a microscope using magnification up to 1000x. Individual cells are examined and their morphology is characterized and recorded. Characteristic red blood cell abnormalities are anemia, sickle cell anemia and spherocytosis. Sometimes the microscopic investigation of the red cells can be essential to the diagnosis of life-threatening disease (e.g. TTP). White blood cells
Red blood cell among the bilayer is the result of the function of several energy-dependent and energy-independent phospholipid transport proteins. Proteins called “Flippases” move phospholipids from the outer to the inner monolayer, while others called “floppases” do the opposite operation, against a concentration gradient in an energy dependent manner. Additionally, there are also “scramblase” proteins that move phospholipids in both directions at the same time, down their concentration gradients in an energy independent manner. There is still considerable debate ongoing regarding the identity of these membrane maintenance proteins in the red cell membrane. The maintenance of an asymmetric phospholipid distribution in the bilayer