Pathophysiological Roles of Ezrin/Radixin/Moesin Proteins

Ezrin/radixin/moesin (ERM) proteins function as general cross-linkers between plasma membrane proteins and the actin cytoskeleton and are involved in the functional expression of membrane proteins on the cell surface. They also integrate Rho guanosine 5'-triphosphatase (GTPase) signaling to regulate cytoskeletal organization by sequestering Rho-related proteins. They act as protein kinase A (PKA)-anchoring proteins and sequester PKA close to its target proteins for their effective phosphorylation and functional regulation. Therefore, ERM proteins seem to play important roles in the membrane transport of electrolytes by ion channels and transporters. In this review, we focus on the pathophysiological roles of ERM proteins in in vivo studies and introduce the phenotypes of their knockout and knockdown mice.