Ligand bias underlies differential signaling of multiple FGFs via FGFR1

  1. Kelly Karl
  2. Nuala Del Piccolo
  3. Taylor Light
  4. Tanaya Roy
  5. Pooja Dudeja
  6. Vlad-Constantin Ursachi
  7. Bohumil Fafilek
  8. Pavel Krejci
  9. Kalina Hristova  Is a corresponding author
  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Institute for NanoBioTechnology, and Program in Molecular Biophysics, Johns Hopkins University, United States
  2. Department of Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Czech Republic
  3. Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics of the CAS, Czech Republic
  4. International Clinical Research Center, St. Anne's University Hospital, Czech Republic
6 figures, 3 tables and 6 additional files

Figures

Activation of FGF signaling in RCS^Fgfr1 cells.

(A) Expression of FGFR1 and FGFR2 in wild-type rat chondrosarcoma (RCS) cells, RCS cells null for FGFR1–4, and RCS cells expressing only endogenous FGFR1 (RCSFgfr1). Actin serves as a loading control; n, number of biologically independent experiments. (B) RCSFgfr1 cells were treated with FGF4, FGF8, and FGF9 for indicated times and ERK phosphorylation (pErk) was monitored by western blot. Vinculin serves as a loading control. pErk signal was quantified and graphed (right) as relative values compared to the 10’ FGF4 stimulation; data show average and SEM of six biologically independent experiments. (C) RCSFgfr1 expressing the pKrox(MapERK)d1EGFP reporter were treated with FGF4, FGF8, and FGF9 and pKrox24 transactivation was monitored for 48 hr.

The oligomerization state of FGFR1, as measured by fluorescence intensity fluctuation (FIF) spectrometry.

(A) Brightness distributions shown on the linear scale. Brightness scales with the oligomer size. Linker for activation of T-cells (LAT) (gray) is a monomer control, TrkA+130 nM nerve growth factor (NGF) (black) is a dimer control. EphA2 bound to ephrinA1-Fc (brown) is an oligomer control. All distributions are scaled to a maximum of 1. (B) Distributions of log(brightness). Points represent the experimental FIF data, and the solid lines are the best-fit Gaussians. (C) Means of the best-fit Gaussians and the standard errors of the mean. Each data set is derived from at least 100 cells in three biologically independent experiments.

Figure 2—source data 1

Fluorescence intensity fluctuations (FIF) brightness value distributions.

https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/88144/elife-88144-fig2-data1-v2.xlsx
Phosphorylation of FGFR1 and downstream signaling substrates in HEK 293T cells.

(A) Sample western blots for Y653/4 FGFR1 phosphorylation and FRS2 phosphorylation in response to FGF4, FGF8, and FGF9. (B) An example blot used for data scaling, where samples with maximum phosphorylation in response to FGF4, FGF8, and FGF9 are re-run on the same gel. (C) Dose-response curves from the western blot experiments. The points represent the averaged data, mean ± SEM, while the solid lines are the best-fit rectangular hyperbolic curves. Fit parameters are shown in Table 1. Data are from three to five biologically independent experiments.

FGFR1 phosphorylation as a function of time after ligand addition.

(A) Phosphorylation time course of Y653/654 at high ligand concentration (130 nM). (B) Phosphorylation time course of Y653/654 at low ligand concentration (2.6 nM). (C) Phosphorylation time course of FRS2 at high ligand concentration (130 nM). (D) Phosphorylation time course of FRS2 at low ligand concentration (2.6 nM). Shown are means and standard errors of replicates from three biologically independent experiments.

Figure 5 with 1 supplement
Functional FGFR1-mediated responses to different ligands.

(A) FGFR1 concentration in the plasma membrane of HEK 293T cells at t=2 min following ligand addition for FGF8, FGF9, and no ligand control. (B) HEK 293T cell viability after ligand exposure and 6 days of starvation for varying ligand concentrations. (C) Apoptosis of HEK 293T cells under starvation conditions, exposed to varying concentrations of FGF8 and FGF9. Results are summarized in Supplementary file 5. (D) RCSFgfr1 cells were treated with FGF4, FGF8, and FGF9 for 48 hr, and the levels of collagen type 2 were determined by western blot. Actin serves as a loading control. (E) Dose-response curves describing collagen type 2 loss. (F) Dose-response curves for growth arrest of RCSFgfr1 cells after 72 hr, in response to FGF4, FGF8, and FGF9. Data are from at least three biologically independent experiments.

Figure 5—source data 1

FGFR1 membrane concentration, cell viability, and apoptosis data plotted in Figure 5A, B, and C.

https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/88144/elife-88144-fig5-data1-v2.xlsx
Figure 5—source data 2

Original files for the western blots in Figure 5D.

https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/88144/elife-88144-fig5-data2-v2.zip
Figure 5—source data 3

PDF containing Figure 5D and original western blots.

https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/88144/elife-88144-fig5-data3-v2.pdf
Figure 5—source data 4

Collagen amounts, used to generate the dose-response curves for collagen type 2 loss in Figure 5E.

https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/88144/elife-88144-fig5-data4-v2.xlsx
Figure 5—source data 5

Cell counts, used to generate the dose-response curves for growth arrest in Figure 5F.

https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/88144/elife-88144-fig5-data5-v2.xlsx
Figure 5—figure supplement 1
Total cellular expression of FGFR1 in the stable FGFR1 line.

Shown are results for three different biologically independent samples in the absence of ligand, three samples that have been treated with FGF8 for 2 min, and three samples that have been treated with FGF9 for 2 min. All the expressions are the same.

Differences in FGFR1 transmembrane domain association in response to FGF ligands.

(A and B) Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) data for ECTM-FGFR1-YFP and ECTM-FGFR1-mCherry in the presence of saturating FGF4 (orange), FGF8 (green), or FGF9 (blue) concentrations. (A) Measured FRET efficiencies versus total receptor (ECTM-FGFR1-YFP + ECTM-FGFR1-mCherry) concentrations and measured donor (ECTM-FGFR1-YFP) concentrations versus acceptor (ECTM-FGFR1-YFP) concentrations in single vesicles. (B) Histograms of single-vesicle intrinsic FRET values. Intrinsic FRET is a measure of the separation between the fluorescent proteins. Different intrinsic FRET values were measured for FGF8 and FGF4/FGF9. (C) Graphical representation of experimental results showing that in the presence of FGF8 the transmembrane (TM) C-termini are positioned further apart from each other, as compared to the cases of FGF4 and FGF9.

Figure 6—source data 1

FGF4 Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) data.

https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/88144/elife-88144-fig6-data1-v2.xlsx
Figure 6—source data 2

FGF8 Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) data.

https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/88144/elife-88144-fig6-data2-v2.xlsx
Figure 6—source data 3

FGF9 Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) data.

https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/88144/elife-88144-fig6-data3-v2.xlsx

Tables

Table 1
Best-fit parameters for dose-response curves in Figures 3 and 5.

EC50 is the potency of the ligand, and Etop is the efficacy (see Equation 1).

pY653/4PLCγ
EC50, MEtopEC50, MEtop
FGF44.77E-10±0.42E-100.95±0.03FGF47.98E-11±2.15E-110.80±0.04
FGF81.04E-8±0.23E-81.11±0.07FGF81.05E-9±0.23E-90.99±0.03
FGF92.09E-9±0.31E-90.70±0.02FGF92.05E-10±0.40E-100.62±0.02
pY766pFRS2
EC50, MEtopEC50, MEtop
FGF45.84E-10±1.26E-100.76±0.05FGF43.42E-10±0.70E-100.94±0.06
FGF81.42E-8±0.25E-81.16±0.07FGF81.62E-9±0.29E-90.98±0.03
FGF91.94E-9±0.71E-90.56±0.05FGF91.65E-9±0.15E-90.52±0.01
FGFR1 DownregulationGrowth arrest
EC50, MEtopEC50, MEtop
FGF47.34E-10±4.54E-100.27±0.04FGF42.59E-12±1.1E-130.99±0.00
FGF81.39E-8±0.39E-80.63±0.05FGF81.60E-9±2.3E-101.14±0.04
FGF96.80E-9±2.08E-90.42±0.02FGF95.89E-11±8.5E-120.95±0.00
Collagen type 2 loss
EC50, MEtop
FGF41.24E-11±2.79E-121.02±0.01
FGF88.51E-11±2.86E-110.77±0.03
FGF95.67E-11±2.89E-110.86±0.06
Table 2
Calculated bias coefficients using Equation 2.

Gray shading indicates statistical significance between either FGF4 or FGF9 and the reference ligand FGF8 (see Supplementary file 4 for p-values).

β
4v89v8
pY653/4 vs pY766–0.07±0.160.05±0.15
pY653/4 vs PLCγ–0.24±0.180.01±0.14
pY653/4 vs pFRS2–0.61±0.16–0.78±0.12
pY766 vs pPLCγ–0.18±0.19–0.04±0.17
pY766 vs pFRS2–0.54±0.17–0.83±0.16
pPLCγ vs pFRS2–0.37±0.20–0.79±0.13
pY653/4 vs downregulation–0.36±0.26–0.36±0.16
pY766 vs downregulation–0.29±0.27–0.41±0.19
pPLCγ vs downregulation–0.12±0.28–0.37±0.16
pFRS2 vs downregulation0.25±0.270.42±0.15
Collagen loss vs growth arrest–1.77±0.20–1.13±0.18
Key resources table
Reagent type (species) or resourceDesignationSource or referenceIdentifiersAdditional information
AntibodyFgfr1 (rabbit monoclonal)Cell Signaling9740(1:1000)
AntibodyFgfr2 (rabbit polyclonal)Santa Cruzsc122(1:1000)
AntibodyCollagen 2 (rabbit polyclonal)CedarlaneCL50241AP(1:1000)
AntibodyActin (mouse monoclonal)Cell Signaling3700(1:1000)
AntibodyVinculin (rabbit monoclonal)Cell Signaling13901(1:1000)
AntibodypERK (rabbit polyclonal)Cell Signaling9101(1:1000)
AntibodyAnti-Y653/654 (rabbit polyclonal)Cell Signaling3471S(1:1000)
AntibodyAnti-pY766 FGFR1 (rabbit monoclonal)Cell Signaling2544S(1:1000)
AntibodyAnti-pFRS2 (rabbit monoclonal)Cell Signaling3861S(1:1000)
AntibodyAnti-pPLCγ (rabbit polyclonal)Cell Signaling2821S(1:1000)
AntibodyAnti-PLCγ (rabbit polyclonal)Cell Signaling2822S(1:1000)
AntibodyAnti-V5 (mouse monocolonal)Invitrogen46-0705(1:1000)
Antibody (secondary)Anti-rabbitPromegaW4011(1:10,000)
Antibody (secondary)Anti-mouseMillipore SigmaA6782(1:10,000)
Cell line (Homo sapiens)HEK 293T FGFR1This paperStable cell line developed and maintained by Hristova lab, identity authenticated by SRT profiling, negative for mycoplasma
Cell line (Rattus norvegicus)RCS WTPMID:749928A gift from Benoit de Crombrugghe
Cell line (Rattus norvegicus)RCS Fgfr1-4 nullPMID:33952673
Cell line (Rattus norvegicus)RCSFgfr1This paperProgenitors: Fgfr3/4 KO RCS cells from Carmine Settembre, identity authenticated by SRT profiling, negative for mycoplasma
Chemical compound, drug2× Laemmli BufferBio-Rad1610737
Chemical compound, drugTris/Gly/SDS running bufferBio-Rad1610732
Chemical compound, drugTransfer bufferBio-Rad1610734
Chemical compound, drugFugene HDPromegaE2311
Commercial assay or kitBio-Rad Mini-Protean TGX precast gelsBio-Rad4561026
Commercial assay or kitPVDF membranesBio-Rad1620177
Commercial assay or kitWest Femto SupersignalThermo Fisher Scientific1706435
Commercial assay or kitBio-Rad Magic Red Caspase 3-7 kitBio-RadICT 935
Commercial assay or kitMTT Cell Proliferation Assay KitCell BioLabsCBS-252
OtherIblot 2 Gel Transfer DeviceThermo Fisher ScientificIB21001Equipment for transfer
Gene (Rattus norvegicus)Fgfr1EnsemblEnsembl:ENSRNOG00000016050
Peptide, recombinant proteinFGF4R&D Systems235-F4-025
Peptide, recombinant proteinFGF8R&D Systems423-F8-025
Peptide, recombinant ProteinFGF9R&D Systems273-F9-025
Recombinant DNA reagentFGFR1-ECTM-eYFP (plasmid)PMID:26725515YFP-Dr M. Betenbaugh, FGFR1 in pRK5- Dr M Mohammadi, into pcDNA3.1 vector
Recombinant DNA reagentFGFR1-ECTM-mCherry (plasmid)PMID:26725515pRSET-mCherry- Dr R.Tsien, FGFR1 in pRK5- Dr M Mohammadi, into pcDNA3.1 vector
Recombinant DNA reagentpKrox(MapERK)d1EGFPThis paperAddgene plasmid #214912Progenitors: pKrox24(MapErk)DsRed (PMID:28199182), pTR01F (PMID:24376882), d1EGFP (PMID:16508309), PCR of mEgr1 3’UTR
SoftwareFIF softwarePMID:31110281
SoftwareMathematicaWolfram13
SoftwarePrismGraphPad9.2.0

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  1. Kelly Karl
  2. Nuala Del Piccolo
  3. Taylor Light
  4. Tanaya Roy
  5. Pooja Dudeja
  6. Vlad-Constantin Ursachi
  7. Bohumil Fafilek
  8. Pavel Krejci
  9. Kalina Hristova
(2024)
Ligand bias underlies differential signaling of multiple FGFs via FGFR1
eLife 12:RP88144.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.88144.4