HIGH-INCIDENCE OF A POLYMORPHIC VARIANT OF ERYTHROCYTE-MEMBRANE PROTEIN, BAND 3-MEMPHIS, ON A WESTERN JAPANESE ISLAND

Band 3 is the major membrane protein of erythrocytes, which binds memb rane skeletal proteins, glycolytic enzymes, and hemoglobin and transpo rts various kinds of anions. Band 3-Memphis is a variant of Band 3, th e amino terminal fragment of which depicts a slow electrophoretic mobi lity on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel. The frequency of Ba nd 3-Memphis varies among populations, with a higher frequency among t he Japanese. We investigated the frequency of Band 3-Memphis in a west ern Japanese island which is relatively isolated from the main islands , finding that the frequency of Band 3-Memphis of the inhabitants of t his island is significantly higher than the frequency of the Japanese based on the survey in Kyushu Island. This indicates that there may be differences of population in the frequency of Band 3-Memphis in Japan and that Band 3-Memphis may be a good marker to genetically different iate each population.