New insights into erythrocyte membrane organization and microelasticity

The erythrocyte membrane's ability to withstand the stresses of circulation has its origins in various levels of structural organization. Central to t his membrane's structure-function relationships is a quasi-two-dimensional meshwork of spectrin-actin-protein 4.1 that imparts a resilence to the over lying plasma membrane. New insights into the nonlinear microelasticity of t his substructure are being provided by experiments that range from elegant atomic force microscopy tests of single spectrin chains to patterned photob leaching of the micropipette-deformed network. Breakthroughs in atomic leve l structure determinations are further complemented by emerging biophysical studies of transgenically engineered mice lacking specific erythrocyte mem brane proteins. Recent theoretical efforts (computational approaches most n otably) also have begun to correlate molecular scale aspects of structure w ith mechanical measures. All of this recent activity in the biophysics of e rythrocyte structure-function is certain to challenge and refine some of th e most basic tenets in cell membrane structure-function. (C) 2000 Lippincot t Williams & Wilkins, Inc.