title: Receptor FGFRL1 does not promote cell proliferation but induces cell adhesion.
abstract: Fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR)-like protein 1 (FGFRL1) is the most recently discovered member of the FGFR family. Owing to the fact that it interacts with FGF ligands, but lacks the intracellular tyrosine kinase domain, several researchers have speculated that it may function as a decoy receptor and exert a negative effect on cell proliferation. In this study, we performed overexpression experiments with TetOn‑inducible cell clones and downregulation experiments with siRNA oligonucleotides, and found that FGFRL1 had absolutely no effect on cell growth and proliferation. Likewise, we did not observe any influence of FGFRL1 on ERK1/2 activation and on the phosphorylation of 250 other signaling proteins analyzed by the Kinexus antibody microarray. On the other hand, with bacterial petri dishes, we observed a clear effect of FGFRL1 on cell adhesion during the initial hours after cell seeding. Our results suggest that FGFRL1 is a cell adhesion protein similar to the nectins rather than a signaling receptor similar to FGFR1-FGFR4.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Research, University of Bern, CH-3008 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Xiaochen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Research, University of Bern, CH-3008 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Steinberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Research, University of Bern, CH-3008 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhuang
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Research, University of Bern, CH-3008 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Ralph
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bessey
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Research, University of Bern, CH-3008 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Beat
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Trueb
mesh_terms: D000906:Antibodies / Q000378:metabolism; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D015536:Down-Regulation; D048049:Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D057809:HEK293 Cells; D006801:Humans; D020935:MAP Kinase Signaling System; D010766:Phosphorylation; D040081:Protein Array Analysis; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000378:metabolism; D051500:Receptor, Fibroblast Growth Factor, Type 5 / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; C417531:FGFRL1 protein, human; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D051500:Receptor, Fibroblast Growth Factor, Type 5; D048049:Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases