Analysis of the β-adducin gene: new insights into gene structure and function

Adducins are a family of membrane skeleton proteins encoded by three related genes (ADD1, ADD2 and ADD3 or a-, b- and g-adducin genes). Both ADD1 and ADD3 are ubiquitously expressed, while the b-adducin gene shows a pattern of expression restricted to brain and haematopoietic tissues. Adducin is found as either a heterodimer or heterotetramer of a/b or a/g subunit composition in most tissues. Human erythrocytes mainly contain a/b heterodimers, whereas the g-subunit is also found at low levels in mouse red blood cells (RBCs). [...]