The spectrin-based membrane skeleton of the humble mammalian erythrocyte has provided
biologists with a set of interacting proteins with diverse roles in organization and survival of …

Efficient and rapid propagation of action potentials in myelinated axons depends on the
molecular specialization of the nodes of Ranvier. The nodal region is organized into several …

The entire length of myelinated axons is organized into a series of polarized domains that
center around nodes of Ranvier. These domains, which are crucial for normal saltatory …

Proteins of the 4.1 family are characteristic of eumetazoan organisms. Invertebrates contain
single 4.1 genes and the Drosophila model suggests that 4.1 is essential for animal life …

Neuronal alternative splicing is a key gene regulatory mechanism in the brain. However, the
spliceosome machinery is insufficient to fully specify splicing complexity. In considering the …

Members of the Protein 4.1 superfamily have highly conserved FERM domains that link cell
surface glycoproteins to the actin cytoskeleton. Within this large and constantly expanding …

The cells in animals face unique demands beyond those encountered by their unicellular
eukaryotic ancestors. For example, the forces engendered by the movement of animals …

Caspr and Caspr2 regulate the formation of distinct axonal domains around the nodes of
Ranvier. Caspr is required for the generation of a membrane barrier at the paranodal …

Activation of protein 4.1 R exon 16 (E16) inclusion during erythropoiesis represents a
physiologically important splicing switch that increases 4.1 R affinity for spectrin and actin …

The structure of myelinated axons was well described 100 years ago by Ramón y Cajal, and
now their molecular organization is being revealed. The basal lamina of myelinating …