title: Nuclear and nucleolar localization of 18-kDa fibroblast growth factor-2 is controlled by C-terminal signals.
abstract: Members of high (22-, 22.5-, 24-, and 34-kDa) and low (18-kDa) molecular mass forms of fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) regulate cell proliferation, differentiation, and migration. FGF-2s have been previously shown to accumulate in the nucleus and nucleolus. Although high molecular weight forms of FGF-2 contain at least one nuclear localization signal (NLS) in their N-terminal extension, the 18-kDa FGF-2 does not contain a standard NLS. To determine signals controlling the nuclear and subnuclear localization of the 18-kDa FGF-2, its full-length cDNA was fused to that of green fluorescent protein (GFP). The fusion protein was primarily localized to the nucleus of COS-7 and HeLa cells and accumulated in the nucleolus. The subcellular distribution was confirmed using wild type FGF-2 and FGF-2 tagged with a FLAG epitope. A 17-amino acid sequence containing two groups of basic amino acid residues separated by eight amino acid residues directed GFP and a GFP dimer into the nucleus. We systematically mutated the basic amino acid residues in this nonclassical NLS and determined the effect on nuclear and nucleolar accumulation of 18-kDa FGF-2. Lys(119) and Arg(129) are the key amino acid residues in both nuclear and nucleolar localization, whereas Lys(128) regulates only nucleolar localization of 18-kDa FGF-2. Together, these results demonstrate that the 18-kDa FGF-2 harbors a C-terminal nonclassical bipartite NLS, a portion of which also regulates its nucleolar localization.
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, School of Graduate Studies, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York 11203, USA.
authors.forename: Zhi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sheng
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.forename: William J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Chirico
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D019556:COS Cells; D002466:Cell Nucleolus / Q000378:metabolism*; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D019913:Nuclear Localization Signals / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D008164:Luminescent Proteins; D019913:Nuclear Localization Signals; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins