title: Aberrant localization of ezrin correlates with salivary acini disorganization in Sjogren's Syndrome.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyse whether the alterations in the structure and organization of microvilli in salivary acinar cells from SS patients are linked to changes in the expression and/or cellular localization of ezrin.
  
  
  METHODS
  Salivary gland (SG) acini from controls and SS patients were used to evaluate ezrin expression by western blot and localization of total and activated (phospho-Thr567) ezrin by IF and EM.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In acini from control labial SGs, ezrin was located predominantly at the apical pole and to a lesser extent at the basal region of these cells. Conversely, in acini extracts from SS patients, ezrin showed significantly elevated levels, which were accompanied with localization mostly at the basal region. Moreover, F-actin maintained its distribution in both the apical region and basolateral cortex; however, it was also observed in the acinar cytoplasm. Phospho-ezrin (active form) was located exclusively at the apical pole of acinar cells from control subjects and abundantly located at the basal cytoplasm in SS samples. These results were confirmed by immunogold studies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The decrease of ezrin and phospho-ezrin at the apical pole and the cytoplasmic redistribution of F-actin suggest an altered interaction between the F-actin-cytoskeleton and plasma membrane in SS patient acini, which may explain the microvilli disorganization. These alterations could eventually contribute to SG hyposecretion in SS patients.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, Casilla 70061, Santiago 7, Chile. jgonzale@med.uchile.cl.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pérez
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aguilera
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Olea
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Alliende
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Molina
authors.forename: Mónica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brito
authors.forename: María-José
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Barrera
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Leyton
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rowzee
authors.forename: María-Julieta
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: González
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015153:Blotting, Western; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008871:Microvilli / Q000378:metabolism; D008875:Middle Aged; D012469:Salivary Glands / Q000378:metabolism*; D012859:Sjogren's Syndrome / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D055815:Young Adult; D000099149:Ezrin
chemical_list: D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D000099149:Ezrin