title: A model of spectrin as a concertina in the erythrocyte membrane skeleton.
abstract: To maintain its distinctive biconcave shape, the erythrocyte has a skeleton composed largely of the protein spectrin, which associates closely and exclusively with the cell membrane. Although the membrane skeleton forms through specific protein-protein interactions of defined stoichiometry, it has a flexible structure and organization due to the unusual molecular properties of spectrin. Here we describe these properties and propose a model to account for the extensibility of spectrin and for its organization in the skeleton.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology University of Maryland School of Medicine, 660 W. Redwood Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Bloch
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Pumplin