종양 억제 인자, Merlin의 FERM 도메인과 C-말단 도메인간의 결합

Abstract

A tumor suppressor, merlin is a member of ERM family proteins. It consists of N-terminal FERM domain, <TEX>${\alpha}-helical$</TEX> region, and C-terminal domain. Alternative splicing of merlin's mRNA generates two isotypes of merlin. Isotype I, which has exon17 at the C-terminus instead of exon16 in isotype II, is known to have tumor suppressor activity. Like other ERM proteins, the C-terminal domain of merlin isotype I interacts to its FERM domain. That of isotype II, however, was reported not to bind FERM domain despite the large common part of C-terminal domain, which possibly binds FERM domain. Here, we show the binding of FERM domain to both C-terminal domains of merlin's two isotypes by isothermal titration calorimetry. These results support that merlin isotype II also can form a closed conformation or a multimer by intramolecular or intermolecular interactions using their FERM domain and C-terminal domain.