The mechanical properties of red blood cells (RBCs) are fundamental for their physiological role as gas transporters. RBC flexibility and elasticity allow them to survive the hemodynamic changes in the different regions of the vascular tree, to dynamically contribute to the flow thereby decreasing vascular resistance, and to deform during the passage through narrower vessels. RBC mechanoproperties are conferred mainly by the structural characteristics of their cytoskeleton, which consists predominantly of a spectrin scaffold connected to the membrane via nodes of actin, ankyrin and adducin. Changes in redox state and treatment with thiol-targeting molecules decrease the deformability of RBCs and affect the structure and stability of the spectrin cytoskeleton, indicating that the spectrin cytoskeleton may contain redox switches. In this perspective review, we revise current knowledge about the structural and functional characterization of spectrin cysteine redox switches and discuss the current lines of research aiming to understand the role of redox regulation on RBC mechanical properties. These studies may provide novel functional targets to modulate RBC function, blood viscosity and flow, and tissue perfusion in disease conditions.

中文翻译：

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靶向血影蛋白氧化还原开关以调节红细胞的力学性能

红细胞（RBC）的机械特性对其作为气体转运蛋白的生理作用至关重要。RBC的柔韧性和弹性使它们能够抵抗血管树不同区域的血液动力学变化，动态地促进血流从而降低血管阻力，并在通过狭窄血管时变形。RBC的机械性能主要是由其细胞骨架的结构特征决定的，该结构主要由通过肌动蛋白，锚蛋白和adducin节点连接到膜的血影蛋白支架组成。氧化还原状态的变化和用巯基靶向分子处理会降低RBC的可变形性，并影响血影蛋白细胞骨架的结构和稳定性，表明血影蛋白细胞骨架可能包含氧化还原开关。在此观点综述中，我们修订了有关血影蛋白半胱氨酸氧化还原开关的结构和功能表征的现有知识，并讨论了当前的研究方向，旨在了解氧化还原调节对RBC力学性能的作用。这些研究可能提供新的功能目标，以调节疾病条件下的红细胞功能，血液粘度和流量以及组织灌注。