Where spectrin snuggles with ankyrin

Using the crystal structure of beta-spectrin repeats 14 and 15 that bind ankyrin, together with a crystal structure of a fragment of ankyrin that binds spectrin, and detailed site- directed mutagenesis, Stabach and Ipsaro and their respective colleagues analyze for the first time the structure of the ankyrin-beta-spectrin bridge that connects band 3 (AE1) and other proteins to the membrane skeleton.