Ankyrins

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Overview
Ankyrins are a family of proteins that mediates the attachment of integral membrane proteins to the cytoskeleton.

Ankyrin 1, was first discovered in the erythrocytes but also later found to be expressed in the brain and muscles. In erythrocytes, Ankyrin 1 links membrane receptor CD44 to inositol triphosphate and the cytoskeleton.

Ankyrin contains three functional domains: a conserved N-terminal ankyrin repeat domain (ARD) consisting of 22–24 tandem repeats of 33 amino acids, a spectrin binding domain and a variably sized C-terminal regulatory domain.

Ankyrin was discovered by Dr. G. Vann Bennett (M.D., PhD.) in 1976.