A glycophorin that is a translation product of the human GYPA gene or a 1:1 ortholog thereof. It is the major sialoglycoprotein of the erythrocyte membrane. Structurally, glycophorin A consists of an N-terminal extracellular domain, heavily glycosylated on Ser and threonine residues, followed by a transmembrane region and a C-terminal cytoplasmic domain. [ http://www.ebi.ac.uk/interpro/entry/IPR001195 ]