Pertovaara L, Tienari J, Vainikka S, Partanen J, Saksela O, Lehtonen E, Alitalo K
Department of Pathology, University of Helsinki, Finland.
Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1993 Feb 26;191(1):149-56. doi: 10.1006/bbrc.1993.1196.
We have analyzed the regulation of fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFRs) during retinoic acid (RA) induced differentiation of Tera-2 human embryonal carcinoma cells. Undifferentiated Tera-2 cells expressed mRNAs for all four known FGFRs. Their differentiation led to loss of FGFR-4 mRNA expression and mRNA levels for FGFR-2 and FGFR-3 were considerably downregulated, whereas the mRNA levels for FGFR-1 remained unaltered. A substantial decrease in binding of K-FGF was found to occur upon RA-induced differentiation of the cells. In undifferentiated Tera-2 cells FGF stimulation caused an increase of c-fos mRNA, and c-jun mRNAs, but no increase of junB mRNA, whereas in the differentiated cells, FGFs strongly stimulated the expression of all three genes. Thus differentiation of the Tera-2 cells leads to marked changes in FGFR gene expression as well as to complex alterations in their responses to exogenous FGFs.
