The erythroid membrane skeleton: expression and assembly during erythropoiesis.

One aspect of erythropoiesis entails the biogenesis of a membrane skeleton. Analysis of the expression and assembly of the various components of this multisubunit structure illustrates the problem of spatial and temporal regulation of cytoskeletal morphogenesis, departures from simple self-assembly, and the various levels of regulation that might be operative in this aspect of cellular morphogenesis in development. Additionally, it reveals a new insight into the mechanisms underlying the molecular defects in certain hereditary hemolytic anemias.