Where spectrin snuggles with ankyrin

Abstract

Using the crystal structure of β-spectrin repeats 14 and 15 that bind ankyrin, together with a crystal structure of a fragment of ankyrin that binds spectrin, and detailed site-directed mutagenesis, Stabach and Ipsaro and their respective colleagues analyze for the first time the structure of the ankyrin-β-spectrin bridge that connects band 3 (AE1) and other proteins to the membrane skeleton.