BMP7 functions predominantly as a heterodimer with BMP2 or BMP4 during mammalian embryogenesis

  1. Hyung-Seok Kim
  2. Judith Neugebauer
  3. Autumn McKnite
  4. Anup Tilak
  5. Jan L Christian  Is a corresponding author
  1. University of Utah, United States
  2. Oregon Health and Sciences University, United States

Abstract

BMP7/BMP2 or BMP7/BMP4 heterodimers are more active than homodimers in vitro, but it is not known whether these heterodimers signal in vivo. To test this, we generated knock in mice carrying a mutation (Bmp7R-GFlag) that prevents proteolytic activation of the dimerized BMP7 precursor protein. This mutation eliminates the function of BMP7 homodimers and all other BMPs that normally heterodimerize with BMP7. While Bmp7 null homozygotes are live born, Bmp7R-GFlag homozygotes are embryonic lethal and have broadly reduced BMP activity. Furthermore, compound heterozygotes carrying the Bmp7R-G allele together with a null allele of Bmp2 or Bmp4 die during embryogenesis with defects in ventral body wall closure and/or the heart. Co-immunoprecipitation assays confirm that endogenous BMP4/7 heterodimers exist. Thus, BMP7 functions predominantly as a heterodimer with BMP2 or BMP4 during mammalian development, which may explain why mutations in either Bmp4 or Bmp7 lead to a similar spectrum of congenital defects in humans.

Data availability

All data generated and analyzed during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting files.

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Hyung-Seok Kim

    Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy and Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Hematologic Malignancies, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  2. Judith Neugebauer

    Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy and Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Hematologic Malignancies, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  3. Autumn McKnite

    Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy and Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Hematologic Malignancies, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  4. Anup Tilak

    Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Oregon Health and Sciences University, Portland, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  5. Jan L Christian

    Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy and Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Hematologic Malignancies, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, United States
    For correspondence
    jan.christian@neuro.utah.edu
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-3812-3658

Funding

National Institutes of Health (RO1HD037976)

  • Jan L Christian

National Institutes of Health (T32DK007115)

  • Judith Neugebauer

National Institutes of Health (T32HD007491)

  • Autumn McKnite

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Ethics

Animal experimentation: This study was performed in strict accordance with the recommendations in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of the National Institutes of Health. All animal procedures followed protocols approved by the University of Utah Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (protocol #17-03007).

Copyright

© 2019, KIm et al.

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

Metrics

  • 3,003
    views
  • 392
    downloads
  • 52
    citations

Views, downloads and citations are aggregated across all versions of this paper published by eLife.

Download links

A two-part list of links to download the article, or parts of the article, in various formats.

Downloads (link to download the article as PDF)

Open citations (links to open the citations from this article in various online reference manager services)

Cite this article (links to download the citations from this article in formats compatible with various reference manager tools)

  1. Hyung-Seok Kim
  2. Judith Neugebauer
  3. Autumn McKnite
  4. Anup Tilak
  5. Jan L Christian
(2019)
BMP7 functions predominantly as a heterodimer with BMP2 or BMP4 during mammalian embryogenesis
eLife 8:e48872.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.48872

Share this article

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.48872

Further reading

    1. Cell Biology
    Jittoku Ihara, Yibin Huang ... Koichi Yamamoto
    Research Article

    Chronic kidney disease (CKD) and atherosclerotic heart disease, frequently associated with dyslipidemia and hypertension, represent significant health concerns. We investigated the interplay among these conditions, focusing on the role of oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) and angiotensin II (Ang II) in renal injury via G protein αq subunit (Gq) signaling. We hypothesized that oxLDL enhances Ang II-induced Gq signaling via the AT1 (Ang II type 1 receptor)-LOX1 (lectin-like oxLDL receptor) complex. Based on CHO and renal cell model experiments, oxLDL alone did not activate Gq signaling. However, when combined with Ang II, it significantly potentiated Gq-mediated inositol phosphate 1 production and calcium influx in cells expressing both LOX-1 and AT1 but not in AT1-expressing cells. This suggests a critical synergistic interaction between oxLDL and Ang II in the AT1-LOX1 complex. Conformational studies using AT1 biosensors have indicated a unique receptor conformational change due to the oxLDL-Ang II combination. In vivo, wild-type mice fed a high-fat diet with Ang II infusion presented exacerbated renal dysfunction, whereas LOX-1 knockout mice did not, underscoring the pathophysiological relevance of the AT1-LOX1 interaction in renal damage. These findings highlight a novel mechanism of renal dysfunction in CKD driven by dyslipidemia and hypertension and suggest the therapeutic potential of AT1-LOX1 receptor complex in patients with these comorbidities.

    1. Cell Biology
    Qi Zeng, Chen Yao ... Shuai Chen
    Research Article

    Mounting evidence has demonstrated the genetic association of ORMDL sphingolipid biosynthesis regulator 3 (ORMDL3) gene polymorphisms with bronchial asthma and a diverse set of inflammatory disorders. However, its role in type I interferon (type I IFN) signaling remains poorly defined. Herein, we report that ORMDL3 is a negative modulator of the type I IFN signaling by interacting with mitochondrial antiviral signaling protein (MAVS) and subsequently promoting the proteasome-mediated degradation of retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I). Immunoprecipitation coupled with mass spectrometry (IP-MS) assays uncovered that ORMDL3 binds to ubiquitin-specific protease 10 (USP10), which forms a complex with and stabilizes RIG-I through decreasing its K48-linked ubiquitination. ORMDL3 thus disrupts the interaction between USP10 and RIG-I, thereby promoting RIG-I degradation. Additionally, subcutaneous syngeneic tumor models in C57BL/6 mice revealed that inhibition of ORMDL3 enhances anti-tumor efficacy by augmenting the proportion of cytotoxic CD8 positive T cells and IFN production in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Collectively, our findings reveal the pivotal roles of ORMDL3 in maintaining antiviral innate immune responses and anti-tumor immunity.