Ezrin-related phosphoinositide pathway modifies RhoA and Rac1 in human osteosarcoma cell lines

Selected Phosphoinositide-specific Phospholipase C (PI-PLC) enzymes occupy the convergence point of the broad range of pathways that promote Rho and Ras GTPase mediated signalling, which also regulate the activation of ezrin, a member of the ezrin-radixin-moesin (ERM) proteins family involved in the metastatic osteosarcoma spread. Previous studies described that in distinct human osteosarcoma cell lines ezrin networks the PI-PLC with complex interplay controlling the expression of the PLC genes, which codify for PI-PLC enzymes. In the present study, we analyzed the expression and the sub-cellular distribution of RhoA and Rac1 respectively after ezrin silencing and after PI-PLC ε silencing, in order to investigate whether ezrin-RhoGTPAses signalling might involve one or more specific PI-PLC isoforms in cultured 143B and Hs888 human osteosarcoma cell lines. In the present experiments, both ezrin and PLCE gene silencing had different effects upon RhoA and Rac1 expression and sub-cellular localization. Displacements of Ezrin and of RhoA localization were observed, probably playing functional roles.