Ezrin also known as cytovillin or villin-2 is a
protein
Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...
that in humans is encoded by the ''EZR''
gene
In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protei ...
.
Structure
The
N-terminus of ezrin contains a
FERM domain which is further subdivided into three subdomains. The
C-terminus
The C-terminus (also known as the carboxyl-terminus, carboxy-terminus, C-terminal tail, carboxy tail, C-terminal end, or COOH-terminus) is the end of an amino acid chain (protein
Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comp ...
contains an
ERM domain.
Function
The
cytoplasmic
The cytoplasm describes all the material within a eukaryotic or prokaryotic cell, enclosed by the cell membrane, including the organelles and excluding the nucleus in eukaryotic cells. The material inside the nucleus of a eukaryotic cell and ...
peripheral protein encoded by this gene can be phosphorylated by protein-
tyrosine kinase in
microvilli and is a member of the
ERM protein family. This protein serves as a linker between plasma membrane and
actin
Actin is a family of globular multi-functional proteins that form microfilaments in the cytoskeleton, and the thin filaments in muscle fibrils. It is found in essentially all eukaryotic cells, where it may be present at a concentration of ...
cytoskeleton
The cytoskeleton is a complex, dynamic network of interlinking protein filaments present in the cytoplasm of all cells, including those of bacteria and archaea. In eukaryotes, it extends from the cell nucleus to the cell membrane and is compos ...
. It plays a key role in cell surface structure adhesion, migration, and organization.
The N-terminal domain (also called
FERM domain) binds sodium-hydrogen exchanger regulatory factor (
NHERF) protein (involving long-range
allostery). This binding can happen only when ezrin is in its active state. The activation of ezrin occurs in synergism of the two factors: 1) binding of the N-terminal domain to phosphatidylinositol(4,5)bis-phosphate (
PIP2) and 2) phosphorylation of threonine T567 in the C-terminal domain. Binding to
actin filaments (via C-terminal) and to membrane proteins (via N-terminal) stabilizes the protein's conformation in its active mode. The membrane proteins like
CD44 and
ICAM-2 are indirect binding partners of ezrin, while EBP50 (ERM binding protein 50) can associate with ezrin directly.
Interactions
VIL2 has been shown to
interact with:
*
CD43,
*
FASLG,
*
ICAM-1,
[
* ICAM2,][
* ICAM3,]
References
Further reading
*
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