Heterogeneities in EGF receptor density at the cell surface can lead to concave up scatchard plot of EGF binding

• Published in: FEBS letters Vol. 579; no. 14; pp. 3043 - 3047
• Main Authors: Mayawala, Kapil, Vlachos, Dionisios G., Edwards, Jeremy S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier B.V 06.06.2005
• Subjects: Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Membrane - metabolism; Computational cell biology; Dimerization; Epidermal Growth Factor - metabolism; Epidermal growth factor receptor; Equilibrium model; Humans; Ligands; Models, Immunological; Plasma membrane; Receptor heterogeneity; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor - chemistry; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor - metabolism; Scatchard plot; Thermodynamics; Scatchard plot; Computational cell biology; Receptor heterogeneity; Equilibrium model; Epidermal growth factor receptor; Plasma membrane
• ISSN: 0014-5793; 1873-3468
• DOI: 10.1016/j.febslet.2005.04.059

The mechanism responsible for the concave up nature of the Scatchard plot of epidermal growth factor (EGF) binding on EGF receptor (EGFR) has been a controversial issue for more than a decade. Past efforts to mechanistically simulate the concave up nature of the Scatchard plot of EGF binding have shown that negative cooperativity in EGF binding on an EGFR dimer or inclusion of some external site or binding event can describe this behavior. However, herein we show that heterogeneity in the density of EGFR due to localization in certain regions of the plasma membrane, which has been experimentally reported, can also lead to concave up shape of the Scatchard plot of the EGF binding on EGFR.