Spectrin: The ghost in the machine
Spectrin: the ghost in the machine
Graham H. Thomas
Summary
It has long been speculated that spectrin, the actin
crosslinking and molecular scaffold protein, is involved
in the development of apicobasal polarity in epithelia.
While spectrins can undoubtedly influence the protein
content of specific membrane domains, recent genetic
evidence indicates that this activity is not necessary for
the establishment or maintenance of this axis. Instead,
these studies
