Redox biology of blood revisited: the role of red blood cells in maintaining circulatory reductive capacity.

There is an increasing recognition of the role of red blood cells (RBCs) in cell signaling above and beyond its oxygen (O(2))-carrying function. A recent forum published in the December 2004 issue of Antioxidants & Redox Signaling focused on redox biology of blood and the intricate signaling pathways of RBCs or its free components, i.e., hemoglobin, with the vasculature. The forum provided an up-to-date source of information on this emerging and exciting area of blood biology and the underlying redox chemistry. In the current short review, we have revisited the topic of redox biology of blood and focused on yet another emerging area of research, which deals with the reductive power of blood and the physiological Redox Signal. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 7, 1755-1760.