Klotho coreceptors inhibit signaling by paracrine fibroblast growth factor 8 subfamily ligands

Mol Cell Biol. 2012 May;32(10):1944-54. doi: 10.1128/MCB.06603-11. Epub 2012 Mar 26.

Abstract

It has been recently established that Klotho coreceptors associate with fibroblast growth factor (FGF) receptor tyrosine kinases (FGFRs) to enable signaling by endocrine-acting FGFs. However, the molecular interactions leading to FGF-FGFR-Klotho ternary complex formation remain incompletely understood. Here, we show that in contrast to αKlotho, βKlotho binds its cognate endocrine FGF ligand (FGF19 or FGF21) and FGFR independently through two distinct binding sites. FGF19 and FGF21 use their respective C-terminal tails to bind to a common binding site on βKlotho. Importantly, we also show that Klotho coreceptors engage a conserved hydrophobic groove in the immunoglobulin-like domain III (D3) of the "c" splice isoform of FGFR. Intriguingly, this hydrophobic groove is also used by ligands of the paracrine-acting FGF8 subfamily for receptor binding. Based on this binding site overlap, we conclude that while Klotho coreceptors enhance binding affinity of FGFR for endocrine FGFs, they actively suppress binding of FGF8 subfamily ligands to FGFR.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Binding Sites
  • Cell Line
  • Fibroblast Growth Factor 8 / metabolism*
  • Glucuronidase / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Klotho Proteins
  • Ligands
  • Paracrine Communication*
  • Protein Isoforms / metabolism
  • Rats
  • Receptors, Fibroblast Growth Factor / metabolism
  • Signal Transduction*

Substances

  • FGF8 protein, human
  • Ligands
  • Protein Isoforms
  • Receptors, Fibroblast Growth Factor
  • Fibroblast Growth Factor 8
  • Glucuronidase
  • Klotho Proteins