About this Research Topic
This Research Topic is shaped by the 22nd meeting of the European Red Cell Research Society, “Red Blood Cells at the Mount of Truth”, taking place at the Stefano Francscini Center, Monte Verita/Ascona, Switzerland in March 2019.
The meeting participants will discuss the frontiers in red blood cell basic and translational research. One of the sessions will focus on normal and stress erythropoiesis and the impact the process of differentiation of precursors has on the properties of the circulating red blood cells. Both physiological (high altitude) and pathological (ineffective erythropoiesis in patients with chronic anemia or polycythemia) causes for chronic or acute increase in erythropoietin activity will be covered. The other session will deal with various aspects of red blood cell membrane structure and function from cytoskeletal architecture to function of ion channels and transporters in health and disease.
Novel aspects of pathophysiology of a number of diseases resulting in anemic state will be provided for sickle cell disease, thalassemia, polycythemia, spherocytosis and channelopathies. Molecular determinants and markers of severity will be suggested. And new therapeutic targets reviewed. Improvements to the existing treatments will be discussed including the optimization of blood preservation and transfusion.
Attention will be paid to the standardization of experimental protocols and ways to avoid artifacts and to achieve better reproducibility paved.
Novel technologies allowing to get more information on the state of individual red blood cells and red blood cells sub-populations will be presented.
Focal points and hotspots of modern red blood cell research will be presented and major directions suggested for the young researchers to tackle over the next decades.
We hope to reach out to most of the speakers asking them to contribute to this Research Topic.
Keywords: Red blood cells, erythropoiesis, anemia, cytoskeleton, transfusion, ageing, iron, standardization, technologies
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
