Red cell membranes were used as the immunogen for this Spectrin beta antibody.
Spectrin is a cytoskeletal protein that lines the intracellular side of the plasma membrane of many cell types in pentagonal or hexagonal arrangements, forming a scaffolding and playing an important role in maintenance of plasma membrane integrity and cytoskeletal structure. In certain types of brain injury such as diffuse axonal injury, spectrin is irreversibly cleaved by the proteolytic enzyme calpain, destroying the cytosketelon. Spectrin cleavage causes the membrane to form blebs and ultimately to be degraded, usually leading to cell death.
