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