Figure 4.

Regulatory loops involved in the modulation of red cell deformability. According to the physiological or pathological context, the factors thoroughly enumerated in this review increase or decrease red cell deformability, thus contributing to the adaptation of microcirculatory blood flow to this context. Erythrocyte stiffening may be a reversible event or one of the components of the cascade of events leading to programmed red cell death (eryptosis). Figure created using www.biorender.com accessed on 17 December 2021.