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ErbB Receptor Signaling pp 81–100Cite as

Methods to Investigate EGFR Ubiquitination

Part of the Methods in Molecular Biology book series (MIMB,volume 1652)

Abstract

Ubiquitination of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is an important intracellular signal that occurs upon EGF stimulation and controls EGFR trafficking at multiple steps, finally destining the receptor to lysosomal degradation. In this chapter, we give an overview of the biochemical methods to investigate EGFR ubiquitination.

Firstly, we describe the in vitro ubiquitination assay, a method where, in the presence of the minimal ubiquitination machinery, the biological milieu for EGFR ubiquitination is reproduced in a test tube. In the second protocol, we explain how to immunoprecipitate the EGFR from total lysate and reveal its ubiquitinated form by western blot analysis. Then, with an ELISA-derived assay, we illustrate a robust and reliable method to assess EGFR ubiquitination from low amount of sample; lastly, we illustrate an immunofluorescence protocol to visualize ubiquitinated species (including the EGFR itself) within the EGFR-positive endocytic compartments upon EGF stimulation.

Key words

  • Epidermal growth factor receptor
  • EGFR
  • Ubiquitination
  • Cbl
  • Phosphorylation
  • In vitro ubiquitination assay
  • Immunoprecipitation
  • ELISA
  • Immunofluorescence

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  • DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-7219-7_5
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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge Rosalind Gunby for critically reviewing this manuscript and Roberta Pascolutti for the EGFR in vitro ubiquitination experiment. SS was supported by a grant from Worldwide Cancer Research (16-1245). AC was supported by FIRC Fellowship 14909.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IFOM, The FIRC Institute for Molecular Oncology Foundation, Via Adamello 16, 20139, Milan, Italy

    Alexia Conte & Sara Sigismund

Authors
  1. Alexia Conte
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  2. Sara Sigismund
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sara Sigismund .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Genetics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

    Zhixiang Wang

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Conte, A., Sigismund, S. (2017). Methods to Investigate EGFR Ubiquitination. In: Wang, Z. (eds) ErbB Receptor Signaling. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1652. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7219-7_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7219-7_5

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-7218-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-7219-7

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