Figure 7.

Schematic of Merlin phosphorylation events and interactions with tubulin and ezrin during mitosis. During interphase (1) WT Merlin phosphorylation levels on Ser-518 and Thr-581 are low, allowing binding to tubulin and ezrin. Upon progression to metaphase (2), Ser-518 is phosphorylated (red dot) by Aurora A, facilitating phosphorylation of Thr-581. This dual phosphorylation (two red dots) peaks in metaphase and weakens Merlin interaction with tubulin and ezrin (3). Centrosomes position stabilizes in the same plane (green arrows), followed by sister chromatids separation (grey X) during anaphase. Nonphosphorylable Merlin AA mutant, as well as L64P, retain a strong binding to tubulin and ezrin correlating with a delay in stabilization (orange arrows) of the centrosome position and progression to anaphase (3bis). Upon progression toward telophase, ezrin gets phosphorylated on Thr-567 allowing binding to actin whereas Merlin is progressively dephosphorylated (4). In G₁, phosphorylation of Merlin and ezrin are back to interphasic levels again (5).