Subscribe to the newsletter

Publication — IRIC

Development of conformational BRET biosensors that monitor ezrin, radixin and moesin activation in real time.

Ezrin, radixin and moesin compose the family of ERM proteins. They link actin filaments and microtubules to the plasma membrane to control signaling and cell morphogenesis. Importantly, their activity promotes invasive properties of metastatic cells from different cancer origins. Therefore, a precise understanding of how these proteins are regulated is important for the understanding of the mechanism controlling cell shape, as well as providing new opportunities for the development of innovative cancer therapies. Here, we developed and characterized novel bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET)-based conformational biosensors, compatible with high-throughput screening, that monitor individual ezrin, radixin or moesin activation in living cells. We showed that these biosensors faithfully monitor ERM activation and can be used to quantify the impact of small molecules, mutation of regulatory amino acids or depletion of upstream regulators on their activity. The use of these biosensors allowed us to characterize the activation process of ERMs that involves a pool of closed-inactive ERMs stably associated with the plasma membrane. Upon stimulation, we discovered that this pool serves as a cortical reserve that is rapidly activated before the recruitment of cytoplasmic ERMs.

Publication date
April 1, 2021
Principal Investigators
Leguay K, Decelle B, He YY, Pagniez A, Hogue M, Kobayashi H, Le Gouill C, Bouvier M, Carréno S
PubMed reference
J Cell Sci 2021;134(7)
PubMed ID
33712451
Affiliation
Cellular Mechanisms of Morphogenesis during Mitosis and Cell Motility lab, Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC), Université de Montréal, P.O. Box 6128, Station Centre-Ville, Montréal, QC H3C 3J7, Canada.