Overexpression of ezrin inactivates NF2 tumor suppressor in glioblastoma.

ABSTRACT: Glioblastoma is a frequent brain malignancy with a dismal prognosis. The molecular changes causing its aggressive phenotype are under investigation. We report that the cytoskeletal-related proteins neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) and ezrin have opposite yet interdependent activities in glioblastoma growth. We show that NF2 is absent in approximately one-third of glioblastoma cell lines and tumors, and that it suppresses growth when expressed in cells. Although ezrin overexpression was previously observed in glioblastoma, we show here that ezrin enhanced cell proliferation and anchorage-independent growth but only in cells expressing NF2. Ezrin interacted and delocalized NF2 from the cortical compartment releasing its inhibition on Rac1. By using swap NF2-ezrin molecules, we identified that

SUBMITTER: Morales FC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2940645 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature