Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
Alkmini T. Anastasiadi
Laboratory of Reliability and Quality Control in Laboratory Hematology (HemQcR), Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Health & Caring Sciences, University of West Attica (UniWA), 12243 Egaleo, Greece
Vassilis L. Tzounakas
Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, University of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece
Travis Nemkov
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
Julie A. Reisz
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
Anastsios G. Kriebardis
Laboratory of Reliability and Quality Control in Laboratory Hematology (HemQcR), Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Health & Caring Sciences, University of West Attica (UniWA), 12243 Egaleo, Greece
James C. Zimring
Department of Pathology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA
Steven L. Spitalnik
Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY 10032, USA
Michael P. Busch
Vitalant Research Institute, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA
Red blood cells (RBC) are the most abundant cell in the human body, with a central role in oxygen transport and its delivery to tissues. However, omics technologies recently revealed the unanticipated complexity of the RBC proteome and metabolome, paving the way for a reinterpretation of the mechanisms by which RBC metabolism regulates systems biology beyond oxygen transport. The new data and analytical tools also informed the dissection of the changes that RBCs undergo during refrigerated storage under blood bank conditions, a logistic necessity that makes >100 million units available for life-saving transfusions every year worldwide. In this narrative review, we summarize the last decade of advances in the field of RBC metabolism in vivo and in the blood bank in vitro, a narrative largely influenced by the authors’ own journeys in this field. We hope that this review will stimulate further research in this interesting and medically important area or, at least, serve as a testament to our fascination with this simple, yet complex, cell.
