Analysis of thermal phenomena in erythrocytes from scorpionfish (Scorpaena porcus L.)

The ability of erythrocytes from a marine teleost scorpionfish ( S. porcus L.) to produce heat was investigated in vitro using a specially designed cell with a sensitive HEL-700 temperature sensor. It was shown that a suspension of washed red blood cells produced heat for a long time, while addition of extracellular ATP induced the phenomenon of a thermal spike. Presumably, the observed effect was due to exothermic reaction of ATP cleavage by ecto-ATPases located in the plasma membrane of fish erythrocytes.