Abstract
Oxygen is essential to most forms of life, but too much oxygen is harmful and can elicit tissue damage. Living creatures, therefore, have a tightly regulated system to deliver the necessary amount of oxygen to specific tissues at the right time. Red blood cells are ideal vehicles for delivering oxygen to tissues. Band 3 protein is the major membrane protein of red blood cells. The major membrane protein supports the oxygen delivering system by its anion exchange activity, cooperating with carbonic anhydrase and hemoglobin. Band 3 protein has unique structure within the molecule. Here, we briefly review the structure and function of band 3 protein.
