Cited by 363Neurofibromatosis and Schwannoma CasesHER2/EGFR in Cancer ResearchProtein Kinase Regulation and GTPase Signaling

Contact-dependent inhibition of EGFR signaling by Nf2/Merlin

Open access
Curto, Marcello, Cole, Banumathi K., Lallemand, Dominique, Liu, Ching-Hui, McClatchey, Andrea I.·2007·The Journal of Cell Biology

Abstract

The neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) tumor suppressor, Merlin, is a membrane/cytoskeleton-associated protein that mediates contact-dependent inhibition of proliferation. Here we show that upon cell–cell contact Merlin coordinates the processes of adherens junction stabilization and negative regulation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling by restraining the EGFR into a membrane compartment from which it can neither signal nor be internalized. In confluent Nf2−/− cells, EGFR activation persists, driving continued proliferation that is halted by specific EGFR inhibitors. These studies define a new mechanism of tumor suppression, provide mechanistic insight into the poorly understood phenomenon of contact-dependent inhibition of proliferation, and suggest a therapeutic strategy for NF2-mutant tumors.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1083/jcb.200703010

Cites

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • E-cadherin itself was shown to interact with and regulate EGFR in vitro.

    “Along the same lines, E-cadherin itself was shown to interact with and regulate EGFR in vitro46–49.”

    From E-cadherin integrates mechanotransduction and EGFR signaling to control junctional tissue polarization and tight junction positioning (2017) · cites this paper as [46]

    The Results (page unavailable) show that E-cadherin associates with EGFR in cultured cells and that disrupting cadherin-based adhesion increases EGFR signaling. But the reported association depends on NHE-RF1, and the paper attributes contact-dependent EGFR inhibition to Merlin; it does not show that E-cadherin itself directly interacts with or independently regulates EGFR. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

No references could be resolved yet.

Research works printed but not linked: 60

  1. Adams, C.L., W.J. Nelson, and S.J. Smith. 1996. Quantitative analysis of cadherin-catenin-actin reorganization during development of cell-cell adhesion. J. Cell Biol. 135: 1899–1911. 8991100 PMC2133977
  2. Bailey, S.N., S.M. Ali, A.E. Carpenter, C.O. Higgins, and D.M. Sabatini. 2006. Microarrays of lentiviruses for gene function screens in immortalized and primary cells. Nat. Methods. 3: 117–122. 16432521
  3. Baser, M.E., J.M. Friedman, A.J. Wallace, R.T. Ramsden, H. Joe, and D.G. Evans. 2002. Evaluation of clinical diagnostic criteria for neurofibromatosis 2. Neurology. 59: 1759–1765. 12473765
  4. Bennett, F.C., and K.F. Harvey. 2006. Fat cadherin modulates organ size in Drosophila via the Salvador/Warts/Hippo signaling pathway. Curr. Biol. 16: 2101–2110. 17045801
  5. Betson, M., E. Lozano, J. Zhang, and V.M. Braga. 2002. Rac activation upon cell-cell contact formation is dependent on signaling from the epidermal growth factor receptor. J. Biol. Chem. 277: 36962–36969. 12147707
  6. Bretscher, A., K. Edwards, and R.G. Fehon. 2002. ERM proteins and merlin: integrators at the cell cortex. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 3: 586–599. 12154370
  7. Brunton, V.G., I.R. MacPherson, and M.C. Frame. 2004. Cell adhesion receptors, tyrosine kinases and actin modulators: a complex three-way circuitry. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1692: 121–144. 15246683
  8. Ducy, P., and G. Karsenty. 1995. Two distinct osteoblast-specific cis-acting elements control expression of a mouse osteocalcin gene. Mol. Cell. Biol. 15: 1858–1869. 7891679 PMC230411
  9. Edgar, B.A. 2006. From cell structure to transcription: Hippo forges a new path. Cell. 124: 267–273. 16439203
  10. Finnerty, C.M., D. Chambers, J. Ingraffea, H.R. Faber, P.A. Karplus, and A. Bretscher. 2004. The EBP50-moesin interaction involves a binding site regulated by direct masking on the FERM domain. J. Cell Sci. 117: 1547–1552. 15020681
  11. Garratt, A.N., S. Britsch, and C. Birchmeier. 2000. Neuregulin, a factor with many functions in the life of a schwann cell. Bioessays. 22: 987–996. 11056475
  12. Giovannini, M., E. Robanus-Maandag, M. van der Valk, M. Niwa-Kawakita, V. Abramowski, L. Goutebroze, J.M. Woodruff, A. Berns, and G. Thomas. 2000. Conditional biallelic Nf2 mutation in the mouse promotes manifestations of human neurofibromatosis type 2. Genes Dev. 14: 1617–1630. 10887156 PMC316733
  13. Goodwin, M., E.M. Kovacs, M.A. Thoreson, A.B. Reynolds, and A.S. Yap. 2003. Minimal mutation of the cytoplasmic tail inhibits the ability of E-cadherin to activate Rac but not phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase: direct evidence of a role for cadherin-activated Rac signaling in adhesion and contact formation. J. Biol. Chem. 278: 20533–20539. 12672818
  14. Grazia Lampugnani, M., A. Zanetti, M. Corada, T. Takahashi, G. Balconi, F. Breviario, F. Orsenigo, A. Cattelino, R. Kemler, T.O. Daniel, and E. Dejana. 2003. Contact inhibition of VEGF-induced proliferation requires vascular endothelial cadherin, beta-catenin, and the phosphatase DEP-1/CD148. J. Cell Biol. 161: 793–804. 12771128 PMC2199373
  15. Gschwind, A., O.M. Fischer, and A. Ullrich. 2004. The discovery of receptor tyrosine kinases: targets for cancer therapy. Nat. Rev. Cancer. 4: 361–370. 15122207
  16. Hamaratoglu, F., M. Willecke, M. Kango-Singh, R. Nolo, E. Hyun, C. Tao, H. Jafar-Nejad, and G. Halder. 2006. The tumour-suppressor genes NF2/Merlin and Expanded act through Hippo signalling to regulate cell proliferation and apoptosis. Nat. Cell Biol. 8: 27–36. 16341207
  17. Hirokawa, Y., A. Tikoo, J. Huynh, T. Utermark, C.O. Hanemann, M. Giovannini, G.H. Xiao, J.R. Testa, J. Wood, and H. Maruta. 2004. A clue to the therapy of neurofibromatosis type 2: NF2/merlin is a PAK1 inhibitor. Cancer J. 10: 20–26. 15000491
  18. Hoschuetzky, H., H. Aberle, and R. Kemler. 1994. Beta-catenin mediates the interaction of the cadherin-catenin complex with epidermal growth factor receptor. J. Cell Biol. 127: 1375–1380. 7962096 PMC2120252
  19. Huang, J., S. Wu, J. Barrera, K. Matthews, and D. Pan. 2005. The Hippo signaling pathway coordinately regulates cell proliferation and apoptosis by inactivating Yorkie, the Drosophila homolog of YAP. Cell. 122: 421–434. 16096061
  20. James, M.F., N. Manchanda, C. Gonzalez-Agosti, J.H. Hartwig, and V. Ramesh. 2001. The neurofibromatosis 2 protein product merlin selectively binds F-actin but not G-actin, and stabilizes the filaments through a lateral association. Biochem. J. 356: 377–386. 11368764 PMC1221848
  21. Johannessen, L.E., N.M. Pedersen, K.W. Pedersen, I.H. Madshus, and E. Stang. 2006. Activation of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor induces formation of EGF receptor- and Grb2-containing clathrin-coated pits. Mol. Cell. Biol. 26: 389–401. 16382132 PMC1346888
  22. Johnson, K.C., J.L. Kissil, J.L. Fry, and T. Jacks. 2002. Cellular transformation by a FERM domain mutant of the Nf2 tumor suppressor gene. Oncogene. 21: 5990–5997. 12203111
  23. Kissil, J.L., E.W. Wilker, K.C. Johnson, M.S. Eckman, M.B. Yaffe, and T. Jacks. 2003. Merlin, the product of the Nf2 tumor suppressor gene, is an inhibitor of the p21-activated kinase, Pak1. Mol. Cell. 12: 841–849. 14580336
  24. LaJeunesse, D.R., B.M. McCartney, and R.G. Fehon. 2001. A systematic screen for dominant second-site modifiers of Merlin/NF2 phenotypes reveals an interaction with blistered/DSRF and scribbler. Genetics. 158: 667–679. 11404331 PMC1461664
  25. Lallemand, D., M. Curto, I. Saotome, M. Giovannini, and A.I. McClatchey. 2003. NF2 deficiency promotes tumorigenesis and metastasis by destabilizing adherens junctions. Genes Dev. 17: 1090–1100. 12695331 PMC196046
  26. Lazar, C.S., C.M. Cresson, D.A. Lauffenburger, and G.N. Gill. 2004. The Na+/H+ exchanger regulatory factor stabilizes epidermal growth factor receptors at the cell surface. Mol. Biol. Cell. 15: 5470–5480. 15469991 PMC532026
  27. Lucero, H.A., and P.W. Robbins. 2004. Lipid rafts-protein association and the regulation of protein activity. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 426: 208–224. 15158671
  28. Maitra, S., R.M. Kulikauskas, H. Gavilan, and R.G. Fehon. 2006. The tumor suppressors Merlin and expanded function cooperatively to modulate receptor endocytosis and signaling. Curr. Biol. 16: 702–709. 16581517
  29. Manchanda, N., A. Lyubimova, H.Y. Ho, M.F. James, J.F. Gusella, N. Ramesh, S.B. Snapper, and V. Ramesh. 2005. The NF2 tumor suppressor Merlin and the ERM proteins interact with N-WASP and regulate its actin polymerization function. J. Biol. Chem. 280: 12517–12522. 15699051
  30. McClatchey, A.I. 2003. Merlin and ERM proteins: unappreciated roles in cancer development? Nat. Rev. Cancer. 3: 877–883. 14668818
  31. McClatchey, A.I., and M. Giovannini. 2005. Membrane organization and tumorigenesis–the NF2 tumor suppressor, Merlin. Genes Dev. 19: 2265–2277. 16204178
  32. McClatchey, A.I., I. Saotome, K. Mercer, D. Crowley, J.F. Gusella, R.T. Bronson, and T. Jacks. 1998. Mice heterozygous for a mutation at the Nf2 tumor suppressor locus develop a range of highly metastatic tumors. Genes Dev. 12: 1121–1133. 9553042 PMC316711
  33. Morrison, H., L.S. Sherman, J. Legg, F. Banine, C. Isacke, C.A. Haipek, D.H. Gutmann, H. Ponta, and P. Herrlich. 2001. The NF2 tumor suppressor gene product, merlin, mediates contact inhibition of growth through interactions with CD44. Genes Dev. 15: 968–980. 11316791 PMC312675
  34. Murthy, A., C. Gonzalez-Agosti, E. Cordero, D. Pinney, C. Candia, F. Solomon, J. Gusella, and V. Ramesh. 1998. NHE-RF, a regulatory cofactor for Na(+)-H+ exchange, is a common interactor for merlin and ERM (MERM) proteins. J. Biol. Chem. 273: 1273–1276. 9430655
  35. Nguyen, R., D. Reczek, and A. Bretscher. 2001. Hierarchy of merlin and ezrin N- and C-terminal domain interactions in homo- and heterotypic associations and their relationship to binding of scaffolding proteins EBP50 and E3KARP. J. Biol. Chem. 276: 7621–7629. 11106646
  36. Okada, T., M. Lopez-Lago, and F.G. Giancotti. 2005. Merlin/NF-2 mediates contact inhibition of growth by suppressing recruitment of Rac to the plasma membrane. J. Cell Biol. 171: 361–371. 16247032 PMC2171182
  37. Pearson, M.A., D. Reczek, A. Bretscher, and P.A. Karplus. 2000. Structure of the ERM protein moesin reveals the FERM domain fold masked by an extended actin binding tail domain. Cell. 101: 259–270. 10847681
  38. Pece, S., and J.S. Gutkind. 2000. Signaling from E-cadherins to the MAPK pathway by the recruitment and activation of epidermal growth factor receptors upon cell-cell contact formation. J. Biol. Chem. 275: 41227–41233. 10969083
  39. Postic, C., M. Shiota, K.D. Niswender, T.L. Jetton, Y. Chen, J.M. Moates, K.D. Shelton, J. Lindner, A.D. Cherrington, and M.A. Magnuson. 1999. Dual roles for glucokinase in glucose homeostasis as determined by liver and pancreatic beta cell-specific gene knock-outs using Cre recombinase. J. Biol. Chem. 274: 305–315. 9867845
  40. Qian, X., T. Karpova, A.M. Sheppard, J. McNally, and D.R. Lowy. 2004. E-cadherin-mediated adhesion inhibits ligand-dependent activation of diverse receptor tyrosine kinases. EMBO J. 23: 1739–1748. 15057284 PMC394229
  41. Ramesh, V. 2004. Merlin and the ERM proteins in Schwann cells, neurons and growth cones. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 5: 462–470. 15152196
  42. Reczek, D., M. Berryman, and A. Bretscher. 1997. Identification of EBP50: A PDZ-containing phosphoprotein that associates with members of the ezrin-radixin-moesin family. J. Cell Biol. 139: 169–179. 9314537 PMC2139813
  43. Roepstorff, K., P. Thomsen, K. Sandvig, and B. van Deurs. 2002. Sequestration of epidermal growth factor receptors in non-caveolar lipid rafts inhibits ligand binding. J. Biol. Chem. 277: 18954–18960. 11886870
  44. Roudabush, F.L., K.L. Pierce, S. Maudsley, K.D. Khan, and L.M. Luttrell. 2000. Transactivation of the EGF receptor mediates IGF-1-stimulated shc phosphorylation and ERK1/2 activation in COS-7 cells. J. Biol. Chem. 275: 22583–22589. 10807918
  45. Rouleau, G.A., P. Merel, M. Lutchman, M. Sanson, J. Zucman, C. Marineau, K. Hoang-Xuan, S. Demczuk, C. Desmaze, B. Plougastel, et al. 1993. Alteration in a new gene encoding a putative membrane-organizing protein causes neuro-fibromatosis type 2. Nature. 363: 515–521. 8379998
  46. Saotome, I., M. Curto, and A.I. McClatchey. 2004. Ezrin is essential for epithelial organization and villus morphogenesis in the developing intestine. Dev. Cell. 6: 855–864. 15177033
  47. Shaw, R.J., A.I. McClatchey, and T. Jacks. 1998. Regulation of the neurofibromatosis type 2 tumor suppressor protein, merlin, by adhesion and growth arrest stimuli. J. Biol. Chem. 273: 7757–7764. 9516485
  48. Shaw, R.J., J.G. Paez, M. Curto, A. Yaktine, W.M. Pruitt, I. Saotome, J.P. O'Bryan, V. Gupta, N. Ratner, C.J. Der, et al. 2001. The Nf2 tumor suppressor, merlin, functions in Rac-dependent signaling. Dev. Cell. 1: 63–72. 11703924
  49. Sherr, C.J. 2004. Principles of tumor suppression. Cell. 116: 235–246. 14744434
  50. Silva, E., Y. Tsatskis, L. Gardano, N. Tapon, and H. McNeill. 2006. The tumor-suppressor gene fat controls tissue growth upstream of expanded in the Hippo signaling pathway. Curr. Biol. 16: 2081–2089. 16996266
  51. Sorkin, A., and M. Von Zastrow. 2002. Signal transduction and endocytosis: close encounters of many kinds. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 3: 600–614. 12154371
  52. Stang, E., F.D. Blystad, M. Kazazic, V. Bertelsen, T. Brodahl, C. Raiborg, H. Stenmark, and I.H. Madshus. 2004. Cbl-dependent ubiquitination is required for progression of EGF receptors into clathrin-coated pits. Mol. Biol. Cell. 15: 3591–3604. 15194809 PMC491821
  53. Stickney, J.T., W.C. Bacon, M. Rojas, N. Ratner, and W. Ip. 2004. Activation of the tumor suppressor merlin modulates its interaction with lipid rafts. Cancer Res. 64: 2717–2724. 15087385
  54. Strick-Marchand, H., and M.C. Weiss. 2002. Inducible differentiation and morphogenesis of bipotential liver cell lines from wild-type mouse embryos. Hepatology. 36: 794–804. 12297826
  55. Takahashi, K., and K. Suzuki. 1996. Density-dependent inhibition of growth involves prevention of EGF receptor activation by E-cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion. Exp. Cell Res. 226: 214–222. 8660958
  56. Terawaki, S., R. Maesaki, and T. Hakoshima. 2006. Structural basis for NHERF recognition by ERM proteins. Structure. 14: 777–789. 16615918
  57. Trofatter, J.A., M.M. MacCollin, J.L. Rutter, J.R. Murrell, M.P. Duyao, D.M. Parry, R. Eldridge, N. Kley, A.G. Menon, K. Pulaski, et al. 1993. A novel moesin-, ezrin-, radixin-like gene is a candidate for the neurofibromatosis 2 tumor suppressor. Cell. 72: 791–800. 8453669
  58. Weinman, E.J., R.A. Hall, P.A. Friedman, L.Y. Liu-Chen, and S. Shenolikar. 2006. The association of NHERF adaptor proteins with G protein-coupled receptors and receptor tyrosine kinases. Annu. Rev. Physiol. 68: 491–505. 16460281
  59. Wilde, A., E.C. Beattie, L. Lem, D.A. Riethof, S.H. Liu, W.C. Mobley, P. Soriano, and F.M. Brodsky. 1999. EGF receptor signaling stimulates SRC kinase phosphorylation of clathrin, influencing clathrin redistribution and EGF uptake. Cell. 96: 677–687. 10089883
  60. Willecke, M., F. Hamaratoglu, M. Kango-Singh, R. Udan, C.L. Chen, C. Tao, X. Zhang, and G. Halder. 2006. The fat cadherin acts through the Hippo tumor-suppressor pathway to regulate tissue size. Curr. Biol. 16: 2090–2100. 16996265

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Curto, M., Cole, B. K., Lallemand, D., Liu, C.-H., & McClatchey, A. I.
Affiliations
Harvard University (US)
Venue
The Journal of Cell Biology
Published
2007-06-04
Volume
177
Issue
5
Pages
893-903
ISSN
  • 0021-9525 (ISSN-L)
  • 1540-8140
OpenAlex
W2114550587
Cited by
363
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 21 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 24 · 2014: 26 · 2013: 20 · 2012: 33
FWCI
15.68
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by-nc-sa
Locations
  • The Journal of Cell Biology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Neurofibromatosis and Schwannoma Cases
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › HER2/EGFR in Cancer Research
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Protein Kinase Regulation and GTPase Signaling
Keywords
Merlin, neurofibromatosis type 2, EGFR signaling, adherens junctions, tumor suppression, cell-cell contact, EGFR internalization, EGFR inhibitors
MeSH terms
Animals, Cell Adhesion, Cell Line, Models, Biological, Phosphoproteins, Signal Transduction, Protein Structure, Tertiary, Sodium-Hydrogen Exchangers, Neurofibromin 2, Cell Proliferation, Mice, ErbB Receptors

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review