Erythrocyte tropomodulin (E-Tmod or Tmod1) of 41 kDa is a tropomyosin (TM)-binding protein that caps the slow-growing end of the actin filaments. Its N-terminal half is flexible, whereas the C-terminal half has a single domain structure. E-Tmod/TM5 complex may function as a "molecular ruler" generating actin protofilaments of ϳ37 nm. Here we report the discovery of a short isoform of 29 kDa that lacks the N-terminal actin-binding domain (N-ABD) but retains the C-terminal actin-binding domain (C-ABD). E-Tmod29 can be generated by alternative splicing from an upstream promoter or by multiple transcriptional start sites from a downstream promoter. Promoter switching leads to a surge of E-Tmod41 in reticulocytes, which degrades quickly in the cytosol. We expressed recombinant isoforms in Escherichia coli and tested their binding toward TM5, G-actin, and F-actin. Solid-phase binding assays show that, without the N-terminal 102 residues, E-Tmod29 binds to TM5 or G-actin more strongly than E-Tmod41 does, but barely binds to F-actin after TM5 binding. Erythrocytes are responsible for the transport of O 2 and CO 2 in tissues throughout the body. Their cell membranes have a thin layer of protein skeleton under the lipid bilayer. The viscoelasticity and durability of this protein skeleton allows erythrocytes to circulate for 120 days in humans and 60 days in mice. These membrane skeletal proteins are differentially expressed during erythroid differentiation, and the complex transcellular cytoskeleton is remodeled into a membrane skeleton during reticulocyte maturation (1, 2).The membrane skeletal network consists of a large number of basic repeating units interconnected to each other. Each unit contains two kinds of major complexes, a junctional complex (JC) 3 and suspension complex (SC), located in the center and up to six in the periphery, respectively (Fig. 1). A JC includes actin, tropomyosin (TM), erythrocyte tropomodulin (E-Tmod), protein 4.1R, adducin (3), protein 4.9 (dematin), and p55 (for review see Refs. 3 and 4), with six spectrin heterodimers (Sp) radiating from the center. Associated near the distal end of each Sp is an SC. An SC consists of several proteins, including anion exchanger (band 3), ankryin, and protein 4.2, which suspends the skeletal network to the lipid bilayer (for review see Refs. 5 and 6).Some of these membrane skeletal proteins are encoded by genes known to have alternative splicing, alternative promoters, multiple transcriptional start sites, and/or multiple polyadenylation sites (7-14). Indeed, some in JC are cell type-specific isoforms generated by one or more of the above mechanisms. For example, exon 16 of protein 4.1R, which encodes the 8-kDa spectrin/actin-binding domain (ABD), is alternatively spliced (15, 16).  spectrin, which has an ABD, is generated by the differential splicing of its exon 32 (9). Interestingly, ␣ spectrin, which has no ABD, is synthesized three times more than  spectrin, but is quickly degraded in reticulocytes if not incorporated into the membrane skeleton (1...