Fig. 3. ERs are linked to phosphorylation of ERK1/2, AKT and P38 kinases. Cytometric analysis of ERK1/2 (A), AKT (C) and P38 kinases (E), and their phosphorylated forms. These kinases were expressed in RBCs in a sex-independent (ERK, AKT) or dependent (P38, more expressed in males) manner, and were constitutively phosphorylated in RBCs from both sexes. Numbers are the median values of fluorescence intensity. The dot plots show data of p-ERK1/2, p-AKT and p-P38 in RBCs from a representative male and a representative female (A, C, E, right panels). The same samples were used for western blotting analysis of ERK1/2 (B), AKT (D) and P38 kinases (F) (left panels) and their phosphorylated form (right panels). For this purpose, nitrocellulose filters were stripped and incubated with the different antibodies. Representative blotting normalized for the GAPDH content, and histogram showing densitometry analysis of three different experiments. The levels of these phosphorylated kinases were significantly higher in females than in males. * p<0.05; ** p<0.001.