title: GFRalpha-2 and GFRalpha-3 are two new receptors for ligands of the GDNF family.
abstract: The receptor for glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) consists of GFRalpha-1 and Ret. Neurturin is a GDNF-related neurotrophin whose receptor is presently unknown. Here we report that neurturin can bind to either GFRalpha-1 or GFRalpha-2, a novel receptor related to GFRalpha-1. Both GFRalpha-1 and GFRalpha-2 mediate neurturin-induced Ret phosphorylation. GDNF can also bind to either GFRalpha-1 or GFRalpha-2, and activate Ret in the presence of either binding receptor. Although both ligands interact with both receptors, cells expressing GFRalpha-1 bind GDNF more efficiently than neurturin, while cells expressing GFRalpha-2 bind neurturin preferentially. Cross-linking and Ret activation data also suggest that while there is cross-talk, GFRalpha-1 is the primary receptor for GDNF and GFRalpha-2 exhibits a preference for neurturin. We have also cloned a cDNA that apparently codes for a third member of the GFRalpha receptor family. This putative receptor, designated GFRalpha-3, is closely related in amino acid sequence and is nearly identical in the spacing of its cysteine residues to both GFRalpha-1 and GFRalpha-2. Analysis of the tissue distribution of GFRalpha-1, GFRalpha-2, GFRalpha-3, and Ret by Northern blot reveals overlapping but distinct patterns of expression. Consistent with a role in GDNF function, the GFRalphas and Ret are expressed in many of the same tissues, suggesting that GFRalphas mediate the action of GDNF family ligands in vivo.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genomics, Amgen, Inc., Thousand Oaks, California 91320-1789, USA. sjing@amgen.com
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jing
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: P L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Holst
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Boone
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Delaney
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schultz
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Fox
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D016384:Consensus Sequence; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000737:chemistry; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D051100:Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D051097:Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Receptors; D006801:Humans; D008024:Ligands; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000378:metabolism*; D051101:Neurturin; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D051096:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ret; D051381:Rats; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; C495039:GDNF protein, human; C494987:GFRA1 protein, human; C494993:GFRA3 protein, human; C495040:Gdnf protein, mouse; C495041:Gdnf protein, rat; C494988:Gfra1 protein, mouse; C494989:Gfra1 protein, rat; C494992:Gfra2 protein, rat; C494994:Gfra3 protein, mouse; C494995:Gfra3 protein, rat; D051100:Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D051097:Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Receptors; D008024:Ligands; C495053:NRTN protein, human; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D051101:Neurturin; C495056:Nrtn protein, mouse; C495057:Nrtn protein, rat; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D051096:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ret; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; C416649:Ret protein, Drosophila; C494999:Ret protein, mouse; C495001:Ret protein, rat