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. 1974 Dec 1;63(3):1018–1030. doi: 10.1083/jcb.63.3.1018

INTRAMEMBRANE PARTICLE AGGREGATION IN ERYTHROCYTE GHOSTS

I. The Effects of Protein Removal

Arnljot Elgsaeter 1, Daniel Branton 1
PMCID: PMC2109372  PMID: 4215819

Abstract

We have used freeze-etching and SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to study the conditions under which the intramembrane particles of the human erythrocyte ghost may be aggregated. The fibrous membrane protein, spectrin, can be almost entirely removed from erythrocyte ghosts with little or no change in the distribution of the particles. However, after spectrin depletion, particle aggregation in the plane of the membrane may be induced by conditions which cause little aggregation in freshly prepared ghosts. This suggests that the spectrin molecules form a molecular meshwork which limits the translational mobility of the erythrocyte membrane particles.

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Selected References

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