Reinaldo Victor Di Polo Alemán, Venezuelan biophysicist (Caracas 06 March 1943 – 15 June 2016)
Authored over 180 papers (about 4,000 citations)
With L. Beaugé clarified the ATP regulatory effect on Na/Ca exchange in giant axons of squid (1970s)
Characterized metabolically the Na/Ca exchange system in human cardiac tissue
Discovered a new protein in nerve cells that maybe represents a new class of exchange systems (1997)
DEMONSTRATED
The presence of an ATP-driven Ca2+ pumps in giant axons of squid (1979)
The metabolic exchange of Na/Ca using ATP and an intracellular regulatory site for this process
The presence of a 13KDa protein regulating this Na/Ca exchange in nerve cells
The presence of a Ca-dependent extrusion mechanism of ATP hydrolysis in excitable tissues independent of Na/Ca exchanger