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Membrane Tension and the Role of Ezrin During Phagocytosis

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Molecular and Cellular Biology of Phagocytosis

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 1246))

Abstract

During phagocytosis, there is an apparent expansion of the plasma membrane to accommodate the target within a phagosome. This is accompanied (or driven by) a change in membrane tension. It is proposed that the wrinkled topography of the phagocyte surface, by un-wrinkling, provides the additional available membrane and that this explains the changes in membrane tension. There is no agreement as to the mechanism by which unfolding of cell surface wrinkles occurs during phagocytosis, but there is a good case building for the involvement of the actin-plasma membrane crosslinking protein ezrin. Not only have direct measurements of membrane tension strongly implicated ezrin as the key component in establishing membrane tension, but the cortical location of ezrin changes at the phagocytic cup, suggesting that it is locally signalled. This chapter therefore attempts to synthesise our current state of knowledge about ezrin and membrane tension with phagocytosis to provide a coherent hypothesis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK

    Rhiannon E. Roberts & Maurice B. Hallett

  2. School of Dentistry, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK

    Sharon Dewitt

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  1. Rhiannon E. Roberts
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  2. Sharon Dewitt
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  3. Maurice B. Hallett
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Correspondence to Maurice B. Hallett .

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  1. School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK

    Maurice B. Hallett

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Roberts, R.E., Dewitt, S., Hallett, M.B. (2020). Membrane Tension and the Role of Ezrin During Phagocytosis. In: Hallett, M. (eds) Molecular and Cellular Biology of Phagocytosis . Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 1246. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40406-2_6

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