Repeated sickling of red blood cells damages their cell membranes and promotes premature destruction.

反复镰变会损伤红细胞膜，使其过早破坏。

HbS carries oxygen perfectly well, but when it is deoxygenated, HbS changes its shape, which allows it to aggregate with other HbS proteins and form long polymers that distort the red blood cell into a crescent shape - a process called sickling.

HbS能够很好地携氧，但在脱氧时，HbS会改变其形状，从而使其与其它HbS蛋白聚集形成长链多聚体，进而使红细胞扭曲变形成新月型，该过程称为镰变。