FGF signaling regulates development by processes beyond canonical pathways

Ayan T. Ray, Pierre Mazot, J. Richard Brewer, Catarina Catela, Colin J. Dinsmore, Philippe Soriano

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

FGFs are key developmental regulators that engage a signal transduction cascade through receptor tyrosine kinases, prominently engaging ERK1/2 but also other pathways. However, it remains unknown whether all FGF activities depend on this canonical signal transduction cascade. To address this question, we generated allelic series of knock-in Fgfr1 and Fgfr2 mouse strains, carrying point mutations that disrupt binding of signaling effectors, and a kinase dead allele of Fgfr2 that broadly phenocopies the null mutant. When interrogated in cranial neural crest cells, we identified discrete functions for signaling pathways in specific craniofacial contexts, but point mutations, even when combined, failed to recapitulate the single or double null mutant phenotypes. Furthermore, the signaling mutations abrogated established FGF-induced signal transduction pathways, yet FGF functions such as cell-matrix and cell-cell adhesion remained unaffected, though these activities did require FGFR kinase activity. Our studies establish combinatorial roles of Fgfr1 and Fgfr2 in development and uncouple novel FGFR kinase-dependent cell adhesion properties from canonical intracellular signaling.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1735-1752
Number of pages18
JournalGenes and Development
Volume34
Issue number23-24
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Dec 2020

Keywords

  • Cell adhesion
  • Craniofacial development
  • ERK1/2
  • FGF
  • Neural crest

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