Publications by authors named "Joao Martins-Silva"

The objective of the present work was to study the effects of erythrocyte proteins phosphorylation in erythrocyte aggregation and deformability. Human whole blood samples were incubated in vitro in absent and in presence of the phosphorylation/dephosphorilation band 3 inhibitors and also with adenylyl cyclase, guanylate cyclase and PI3K inhibitors and the erythrocyte aggregation index (AIE) and deformability were assayed. The results show that when band 3 is phosphorylated in presence of a PTP inhibitor an increase in erythrocyte aggregation index is observed (p<0.

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Acetylcholinesterase is an enzyme whose best-known function is to hydrolyze the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Acetylcholinesterase is expressed in several noncholinergic tissues. Accordingly, we report for the first time the identification of acetylcholinesterase in human umbilical cord vein endothelial cells.

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Acetylcholine has been detected in human blood. Acetylcholine receptors and acetylcholinesterase are present in erythrocyte membranes. We tested the acetylcholine and choline effects on nitric oxide metabolites (NOx), namely nitrites and nitrates, and observed if they are dependent on interactions with muscarinic receptors and acetylcholinesterase.

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In the recent years, there has been an increase in the development of new biosensors that could be helpful in the study of various physiological processes. In this study, we report the development of a new in vitro experimental design for real-time nitric oxide (NO) amperometric measurements in erythrocyte suspensions. To achieve this, we employed human erythrocyte suspensions in sodium chloride 0.

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