Response by Lundberg et al to Letter Regarding Article, "Hemoglobin β93 Cysteine Is Not Required for Export of Nitric Oxide Bioactivity From the Red Blood Cell".

Response by Lundberg et al to Letter Regarding Article, "Hemoglobin 93 Cysteine Is Not Required for Export of Nitric Oxide Bioactivity From the Red Blood Cell" The idea that red blood cells can export nitric oxide bioactivity is fascinating but has been met with skepticism over the years; the most common critique being that nitric oxide should not be able to exit the red blood cells given its extremely rapid reaction with oxygenated hemoglobin. Our present study, along with some other recent reports, give strong support to the notion that nitric oxide bioactivity can be exported from RBCs albeit most likely not in the form of free nitric oxide, and definitely not dependent of the presence of 93Cys in hemoglobin.[1]. [Extracted from the article]