Ezrin, a member of the ERM (Ezrin/Radixin/Moesin) protein family, is an Actin-plasma membrane linker protein mediating cellular integrity and function. In-vivo study of such interactions is a complex task due to the presence of a large number of endogenous binding partners for both Ezrin and Actin. Further, C-terminal actin binding capacity of the full length Ezrin is naturally shielded by its ...

The β-dystroglycan (β-DG) protein has the ability to target to multiple sites in eukaryotic cells, being a member of diverse protein assemblies including the transmembranal dystrophin-associated complex, and a nuclear envelope-localised complex that contains emerin and lamins A/C and B1. We noted that the importin α2/β1-recognised nuclear localization signal (NLS) of β-DG is also a binding site...

Ezrin is an important membrane/actin cytoskeleton linker protein, especially in epithelia. Ezrin has two important binding domains: an NH(2)-terminal region that binds to plasma membrane and a COOH-terminal region that binds to F-actin only after a conformational activation by phosphorylation at Thr567 of ezrin. The present experiments were undertaken to investigate the detailed cellular change...

BACKGROUND Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) contributes to metastases in various types of tumors, and is also the key step in the breast cancer metastatic cascade. In our previous study, a mouse model containing human-derived normal breast tissue was established and allowed EMT/MET process of human breast cancer cells to be mimicked in a humanized mammary microenvironment. MATERIAL AN...

Ezrin, a membrane-actin cytoskeleton linker, which participates in epithelial cell morphogenesis, is held inactive in the cytoplasm through an intramolecular interaction. Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) binding and the phosphorylation of threonine 567 (T567) are involved in the activation process that unmasks both membrane and actin binding sites. Here, we demonstrate that ezrin bi...

Podocalyxin is an anti-adhesive transmembrane sialomucin that has been implicated in the development of more aggressive forms of breast and prostate cancer. The mechanism through which podocalyxin increases cancer aggressiveness remains poorly understood but may involve the interaction of podocalyxin with ezrin, an established mediator of metastasis. Here, we show that overexpression of podocal...

How cells specify morphologically distinct plasma membrane domains is poorly understood. Prior work has shown that restriction of microvilli to the apical aspect of epithelial cells requires the localized activation of the membrane-F-actin linking protein ezrin. Using an in vitro system, we now define a multi-step process whereby the kinase LOK specifically phosphorylates ezrin to activate it. ...

The ability to generate asymmetry at the cell cortex underlies cell polarization and asymmetric cell division. Here we demonstrate a novel role for the tumor suppressor Merlin and closely related ERM proteins (Ezrin, Radixin, and Moesin) in generating cortical asymmetry in the absence of external cues. Our data reveal that Merlin functions to restrict the cortical distribution of the actin regu...

BACKGROUND Reduced membranous expression of the cytoskeleton-associated protein ezrin has previously been demonstrated to correlate with poor prognosis in urothelial bladder cancer in several independent studies. The present study provides a first description of clinicopathological characteristics of incident urothelial cancers, not only located to the bladder, in the prospective, population-ba...