Evolutionary stories told by one protein family: ERM phylogeny in metazoans

Ezrin, radixin, moesin, and merlin are the cytoskeletal proteins that participate in cell cortex rearrangements and also play role in cancer progression. Here we perform a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of the protein family in metazoans spanning 87 species. The results describe a possible mechanism of the proteins origin in the root of Metazoa, paralogs diversification in vertebrates and acquirement of novel functions, including tumor suppression. In addition, a merlin paralog, present in most of vertebrates, but lost in mammals, has been described. We also highlight the set of amino acid variations within the conserved motifs as the candidates for determining physiological differences between the ERM protein paralogs.