Structural and Dynamic Insights into Podocalyxin-Ezrin Interaction as a Target in Cancer Progression.

ABSTRACT: Cancer metastasis, the spread of tumour cells from the primary site to distant organs, is responsible for over 90% of cancer deaths, yet effective treatments remain elusive due to incomplete understanding of the molecular drivers involved. Podocalyxin (PODXL), a protein overexpressed in many aggressive cancers, links the cell membrane to the internal skeleton through its interaction with Ezrin, an actin cytoskeleton cross-linker. Despite its therapeutic relevance, the PODXL-Ezrin interface remains structurally uncharacterised and pharmacologically intractable. Here, we employed an integrated computational approach combining protein-protein docking, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, and virtual screening to investigate the structural basis of the PODXL-Ezrin interaction. Using AlphaFold-

SUBMITTER: Milutinovic M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12922080 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature