Ezrin...a metastatic detERMinant?
The insidious process of tumor metastasis is the most devastating and least well-understood aspect of cancer. Metastasis is very complex and employs many cellular processes, suggesting that individual metastatic determinants may not be easily identified. Mounting evidence, culminating in the work described in two recent articles, strongly suggests that the membrane:cytoskeleton organizer Ezrin can promote tumor metastasis. Ultimately, a better understanding of exactly how Ezrin confers metastatic advantage will provide important insight into this key problem in cancer biology.
MGH Cancer Center and Harvard Medical School Department of Pathology, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA.
Marcello
M
Curto
Andrea I
AI
McClatchey
D000209:Acute-Phase Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000502:physiology; D002455:Cell Division / Q000502:physiology; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000502:physiology; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000378:metabolism; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D023421:Models, Animal; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009374:Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000503:physiopathology; D025581:Neurofibromin 2 / Q000378:metabolism; D012516:Osteosarcoma / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000378:metabolism; D012208:Rhabdomyosarcoma / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000099149:Ezrin
D000209:Acute-Phase Proteins; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor; D025581:Neurofibromin 2; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D000099149:Ezrin; C010781:acute-phase protein rho