The cell type of election for the study of cell membranes, the mammalian non-nucleated erythrocyte, has been scarcely considered in the research of membrane rafts of the plasma membrane. However, detergent-resistant-membranes (DRM) were actually first described in human erythrocytes, as a fraction resisting solubilization by the nonionic detergent Triton X-100. These DRMs were insoluble entities of high density, easily pelleted by centrifugation, as opposed to the now accepted concept of lipid raft-like membrane fractions as material floating in low-density regions of sucrose gradients. The present article reviews the available literature on membrane rafts/DRMs in human erythrocytes from an historical point of view, describing the experiments that provided the solution to the above described discrepancy and suggesting possible avenue of research in the field of membrane rafts that, moving from the most studied model of living cell membrane, the erythrocyte’s, could be relevant also for other cell types.

用于细胞膜研究的细胞类型是哺乳动物的无核红细胞，在质膜的膜筏研究中很少考虑。然而，耐洗涤剂膜（DRM）实际上首先在人的红细胞中描述为抵抗非离子洗涤剂Triton X-100增溶的部分。这些DRM是高密度的不溶性实体，容易通过离心沉淀，这与目前公认的脂质筏状膜级分作为漂浮在蔗糖梯度低密度区域中的物质的概念相反。本文从历史的角度回顾了有关人类红细胞膜筏/ DRM的现有文献，