Endocrinology Vol. 139, No. 12 4756-4764
Copyright © 1998 by The Endocrine Society
Biological Response to ErbB Ligands in Nontransformed Cell Lines Correlates with a Specific Pattern of Receptor Expression
Srividya Sundaresan,
Penelope E. Roberts,
Kathleen L. King,
Mark X. Sliwkowski and
Jennie P. Mather
Department of Protein Chemistry, Genentech, Inc.,
South San Francisco, California 94080
Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Srividya Sundaresan, Ph.D., 1 DNA Way, MS 45, Genentech, Inc., South San Francisco, California 94080. E-mail: vidya{at}gene.com
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Abstract
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The human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER or ErbB) family
consists of four distinct members, including the epidermal growth
factor (EGF) receptor (EGFR, HER1, or ErbB1), ErbB2 (HER2 or neu),
ErbB3 (HER3), and ErbB4 (HER4). Activation of these receptors plays an
important role in the regulation of cell proliferation,
differentiation, and survival in several different tissues. Binding of
a specific ligand to one of the ErbB receptors triggers the formation
of specific receptor homo- and heterodimers, with ErbB2 being the
preferred signaling partner. We analyzed the levels of various ErbB
receptor messenger RNAs in a series of nontransformed cell lines by
real time quantitative RT-PCR. The cell lines chosen were derived from
a variety of tissues, including pancreas, lung, heart, and nervous
system. Further, we measured biological responses in these cell lines
upon treatment with EGF, betacellulin, and two types of neuregulins,
heregulin and sensory and motor neuron-derived factor. All cell lines
examined expressed detectable levels of ErbB2. High levels of
expression of ErbB3 were correlated with responsiveness to heregulin
and sensory and motor neuron-derived factor, whereas high levels of
EGFR expression were correlated with responsiveness to EGF and
betacellulin. Moreover, the sensitivity of a cell line to ErbB ligands
was also correlated with the levels of expression of the appropriate
ErbB receptors in that cell line. These results are consistent with our
hypothesis that appropriate biological responsiveness to ErbB ligands
is determined by the levels of expression of specific ErbB receptor
combinations within a given tissue.
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Introduction
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THE BIOLOGICAL activities of the epidermal
growth factor (EGF) family of ligands are mediated by their interaction
with the ErbB family of receptor tyrosine kinases. The EGF family can
be subdivided into four groups based on their receptor binding
specificities. The first group binds to EGF receptor (EGFR) alone and
includes EGF itself, transforming growth factor-
(1) and
amphiregulin (2). The second group consists of ligands that bind to
both EGFR and HER4, such as, betacellulin (BTC) (3, 4), heparin-binding
EGF-like growth factor (5), and epiregulin (6). Neuregulin-3 (NRG3)
forms the third group with specificity for ErbB4 alone (7). The last
group is made up of NRG1, which includes heregulins (HRGs)/neu
differentiation factors such as HRGß1 and sensory and motor
neuron-derived factor (SMDF), and NRG2 (8, 9). These ligands bind to
ErbB3 and ErbB4 (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16). ErbB2 is the preferred heterodimerization
partner for all of the other ErbB receptors, enhancing their affinities
for the ligands and amplifying the elicited signals, even though it
does not directly bind any of the above-mentioned ligands (17, 18, 19).
Binding of a specific ligand induces dimerization, activation of the
intracellular kinase domain, and receptor cross-phosphorylation (15, 20, 21).
ErbB receptors and ligands are widely expressed in epithelial,
mesenchymal, and neuronal tissues and play fundamental roles during
development (22, 23, 24, 25, 26). Inactivation of the EGFR gene was found to cause
impaired epithelial development in several organs, including lung and
gastrointestinal tract (26). Similarly, deletion of HRG, ErbB2, ErbB3,
and ErbB4 resulted in several developmental abnormalities, with severe
defects in cardiac, neural, and gastrointestinal development (23, 27, 28). In addition to their roles in development and differentiation,
aberrant expression of these receptors has been reported in a wide
variety of human cancers and in many instances has been correlated with
poor patient prognosis (29, 30, 31). To understand the role played by ErbB
receptors in neoplastic transformation and cancer progression, it is
critical to understand the functioning of these receptors in
nontransformed cells that normally express them. With a few exceptions
(32, 33), many of the systems that have been employed to address the
question of ErbB receptor expression and regulation have consisted of
transformed cell lines or transfected cells that overexpress one or
more of these receptors. We hypothesized that under normal conditions,
it might be possible to predict the responsiveness to ErbB ligands
based on the pattern and relative levels of the various ErbB receptor
subunits in any given tissue. In this study, we test this hypothesis by
examining the relationship between expression of various ErbB receptors
and responsiveness to stimulation by different ErbB ligands in a series
of nontransformed rodent cells and cell lines derived from lung, heart,
nervous system, and pancreas, which are known targets for ErbB
function.
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Materials and Methods
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Cell culture
Descriptions of all of the cell lines used in the study are
listed in Table 1
. BUD cells (Stephan,
J., P. E. Roberts, L. Bald, J. Lee, G. Qimin, A. Helmrich, D. W.
Barnes, J. P. Mather, manuscript submitted) were grown on dishes coated
with fibronectin (Sigma Chemical Co., Inc., St. Louis, MO)
in DMEM-Hams F-12 medium (a 1:1 mixture; obtained in powder form from
Life Technologies, Grand Island, NY), containing
recombinant human insulin (10 µg/ml; Genentech, Inc.,
South San Francisco, CA), aprotinin (10 µg/ml; Boehringer Mannheim,
Indianapolis, IN), recombinant human HRG-ß1 fragment corresponding to
amino acids 177244 (henceforth referred to as HRG; 10 nM;
Genentech), group A (5 ng/ml EGF, 10 µg/ml bovine
transferrin, 1 µM ethanolamine, 1 µM
phosphatidylethanolamine, 40 nM selenium, and 5
pM T3; recombinant human EGF was
obtained from Collaborative Research (Waltham, MA),
selenious acid from Alfa Aesar Organics (Ward Hill, MA), and the rest
from Sigma Chemical Co.], group C [1 nM
hydrocortisone, 10 nM progesterone, and 1
µM forskolin; forskolin was obtained from
Calbiochem (San Diego, CA) and the rest from Sigma Chemical Co.], and 5 µl/ml bovine pituitary extract [BPE;
prepared as previously described (35)]. ASC cells (36) were grown on
laminin-coated plates in DMEM-Hams F-12 medium containing insulin (10
µg/ml), transferrin (10 µg/ml), forskolin (4 µM),
vitamin E (5 µg/ml; Aldrich, Milwaukee, WI),
progesterone (3 nM), HRG (5 nM),
and BPE (2 µl/ml). BR516 cells (35) were grown in DMEM-Hams F-12
medium supplemented with group A, group C, insulin (10 µg/ml), and
BPE (8 µl/ml). SFME cells (37) were cultured on fibronectin-coated
plates in DMEM-Hams F-12 medium containing selenium (40
nM), transferrin (10 µg/ml), insulin (10 µg/ml), and
EGF (10 µg/ml). Primary cardiac myocyte (CM) cultures were isolated
and prepared as described previously (38). They were cultured in
DMEM-Hams F-12 medium supplemented with transferrin (10 µg/ml),
insulin (1 µg/ml), aprotinin (1 µg/ml), glutamine (2 mmol/liter;
Life Technologies), penicillin G (100 U/ml; Life Technologies), and streptomycin (1 µg/ml; Life Technologies).
RNA isolation and real time quantitative RT-PCR
Cell monolayers were detached from the tissue culture dishes by
treatment with either trypsin (Life Technologies) or
collagenase/dispase (Boehringer Mannheim). Cells were collected by
centrifugation, and cell pellets were processed for cytoplasmic RNA
isolation using the RNeasy system (Qiagen, Valencia, CA), according to
the protocol of the supplier. Final RNA concentrations were determined
by OD at 260 nm, and integrity was verified by ethidium bromide
staining of ribosomal 18S and 28S bands on an agarose gel.
Real-time quantitative RT-PCR analyses for EGFR, ErbB2, ErbB3,
ErbB4, EGF, BTC, and HRG were performed using an ABI PRISM 7700
Sequence Detection System instrument and software (PE Applied Biosystems, Inc., Foster City, CA). The principles and protocols
for RT-PCR analyses using this system have been previously described
(39, 40, 41). Briefly, this method uses an oligonucleotide hybridization
probe that is labeled with a reporter fluorescent dye
(6-carboxy-fluorescein) at the 5'-end and with a quencher fluorescent
dye (6-carboxy-tetramethylrhodamine) at the 3'-end. Before the start of
the PCR reaction, when the probe is intact, the reporter dye emission
is due to the physical proximity of the reporter and quencher
fluorescent dyes. During the extension phase of the PCR cycle, however,
the nucleolytic activity of the Taq DNA polymerase cleaves
the hybridization probe and releases the reporter dye from the probe.
The resulting relative increase in reporter fluorescent dye emission is
monitored in real-time during PCR amplification using the Sequence
Detection System. The ribosomal protein L19 (RPL19) was chosen as an
internal standard to control for variability in amplification due to
differences in starting messenger RNA (mRNA) concentrations. The
expression of RPL19 mRNA itself is relatively uniform across the
different cell lines tested (Fig. 1
).
Sequences for all primers and probes used in these analyses are listed
in Table 2
. It should be noted that the
probe used to detect HRG mRNA will pick up any NRG1 isoform, including
HRGß1 and SMDF. All primer sets were designed to yield products
150250 bp in size. All reagents for RT-PCR reactions were purchased
from Perkin Elmer (Norwalk, CT), except for the primers
and probes that were synthesized at the oligonucleotide synthesis core
facility at Genentech, Inc.. Each RT-PCR reaction
consisted of 100 ng cytoplasmic RNA in buffer A (50 mM KCl,
10 mM Tris-HCl, and the internal standard dye, ROX),
appropriate primers (200 nM) and probe (100
nM), 4.5 mM MgCl2, reverse
transcriptase, 2.5 U AmpliTaq DNA polymerase, and 200 µM
of each deoxy-NTP brought up to a final volume of 50 µl with water.
Two sets of control reactions were performed for all RNA samples: one
in which all of the above components were present except for RNA
itself, and the other in which the reverse transcriptase alone was
omitted. All reactions were performed under identical conditions, which
consisted of RT at 48 C for 30 min, followed by 40 cycles of
amplification with denaturation at 95 C for 30 sec, annealing at 55 C
for 30 sec, and elongation at 72 C for 1 min. All RNA extractions and
subsequent RT-PCR reactions were performed in triplicate. The relative
expression level of the gene of interest was computed with respect
to the mRNA expression level of the internal standard, RPL19, using the
formula:
 |
where Ct is the threshold cycle value (39, 40).

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Figure 1. Expression of RPL19 mRNA. Quantitative
measurements of RPL19 mRNA were performed across the cell lines
indicated. Expression of RPL19 mRNA in the cell lines is shown relative
to the expression level in BUD cells. The results shown are the mean
±SD (n = 4).
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Western blots
Cell lysates from BUD, SFME, and ASC cells were prepared by
lysing subconfluent dishes in a buffer containing 10 mM
Tris (pH 8.0), 150 mM sodium chloride, 1% (wt/vol) sodium
deoxycholate, 1% (vol/vol) Triton X-100, 0.1% (wt/vol) SDS, 1
mM leupeptin, and 1 mM
phenylmethylsulfonylfluoride. Lysates were centrifuged at 15,000
x g for 15 min at 4 C to remove insoluble material. A
volume of cell lysate equivalent to 75 µg total protein was reduced
in Laemmli sample buffer for each sample and loaded on a 412%
polyacrylamide gradient gel, and electrophoresis was performed at 125 V
for 2 h. Proteins were then transferred to a nitrocellulose
membrane (Protran BA-83, Schleicher & Schuell, Inc.,
Keene, NH) by electrophoretic transfer at 100 V for 1 h. The
membrane was blocked overnight in PBS containing 10% nonfat milk and
0.1% Tween-20. Incubations with anti-EGFR, anti-ErbB2, anti-ErbB3, and
anti-ErbB4 antibodies (all from Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc., Santa Cruz, CA) were performed at a dilution of 1:1000 at
room temperature for 2 h. After a subsequent incubation with a
secondary antibody (goat antirabbit IgG conjugated with horseradish
peroxidase, at a dilution of 1:5000), detection was performed with the
enhanced chemiluminescence system (Amersham, Arlington
Heights, IL).
Growth assays
Cell proliferation in response to stimulation by ErbB ligands
was measured by a colorimetric assay using the Alamar Blue reagent
(Alamar Biosciences, Inc., Sacramento, CA). The reagent consists of an
oxidation-reduction (REDOX) indicator that undergoes a colorimetric
change due to the reduction of dye by living cells. The cells were
plated in 96-well dishes coated with either fibronectin (BUD and SFME)
or laminin (ASC) in the presence or absence (controls) of defined
concentrations of EGF, recombinant human betacellulin (BTC; R & D Systems, Inc., Minneapolis, MN), HRG, or recombinant human
SMDF (Genentech) (12), as indicated in the figure legends,
in a total volume of 100 µl. After incubation at 37 C for 70 h,
Alamar Blue reagent was added according to the manufacturers
suggested procedure (Alamar Biosciences) and incubated at 37 C for
2 h. At the end of the incubation period, the fluorescence (which
is proportional to cell number) (42, 43) was read at
ex
- 530 nm and
em - 595 nm in a Biolumin 960
fluorescence plate reader (Molecular Dynamics, Inc.,
Sacramento, CA). All treatments were performed in triplicate and
repeated in at least two separate experiments.
Statistical analyses
For RT-PCR data, a factorial ANOVA for receptor/ligand
expression with gene and cell line as the factors was performed
(software from StatView, Berkeley, CA). For growth assay data, ANOVA
for fold induction of growth with ligand and concentration as the
factors was performed for each cell line. Post-hoc analyses
were performed using the Bonferroni-Dunn correction. P
< 0.01 was considered statistically significant.
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Results
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Expression of EGF, BTC, and HRG mRNAs
RT-PCR analysis was performed to determine the level of
expression of different ErbB ligands. The relatively uniform levels of
expression of the internal standard RPL19 between the different cell
lines in this study makes it a suitable internal standard (Fig. 1
). The
highest levels of EGF mRNA were observed in the CM cultures, followed
by lower levels in ASC cells, and undetectable levels in the rest. BTC
mRNA was undetectable in all the cell lines examined. Although HRG mRNA
expression was detectable in ASC and CM cells, much higher expression
levels were observed in the BUD and BR516 cell lines (P
< 0.001 with respect to those in all other cell lines; Fig. 2
).

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Figure 2. Expression of ErbB ligand mRNAs. Levels of EGF,
BTC, and HRG mRNAs were determined by quantitative RT-PCR across the
cell lines indicated. All measurements are shown relative to the
expression levels of RPL19 mRNA for any given cell line. The results
shown are the mean ± SD (n = 3). <LD indicates
signals that were lower than detectable levels. Note that the
y-axis is on a logarithmic scale.
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Expression of ErbB receptor mRNAs
Further RT-PCR analysis was performed to determine the
level of expression of different ErbB receptors in the same cell lines
(Fig. 3
). Highest levels of EGFR mRNA
were seen in the SFME cell line (P < 0.0001 with
respect to all cell lines), with lower levels in BUD and BR516 cell
lines. There was no detectable expression of EGFR mRNA in the ASC cell
line. Expression of ErbB2 mRNA was less restricted than that of the
other receptor types and was detected in all of the cell lines tested.
The highest expression of ErbB3 mRNA was seen in the Schwann cells
(ASC; P < 0.0001 with respect to all cell lines).
Lower levels were also detectable in the BUD and BR516 cell lines. The
expression of ErbB4 mRNA appeared to be most restricted, with highest
levels in the neonatal CM (P < 0.0005 with respect to
all cell lines, except SFME) and lower levels in SFME cells.

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Figure 3. Expression of ErbB receptor mRNAs. Levels of EGFR,
ErbB2, ErbB3, and ErbB4 mRNAs were determined by quantitative RT-PCR
across the cell lines indicated. All measurements are shown relative to
the expression levels of RPL19 mRNA for any given cell line. Results
shown are the mean ± SD (n = 3). <LD indicates
signals that were lower than detectable levels. Note that the
y-axis is on a logarithmic scale.
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Western blots
Levels of EGFR, ErbB2, ErbB3, and ErbB4 in ASC, BUD, and
SFME cells were also analyzed by immunoblotting to ensure that the
measurements of different receptor mRNAs reflect the levels of
expression of these proteins (Fig. 4
).
These three cell lines were chosen because they represent the three
types of receptor combinations found in this series of cell lines. The
strongest immunoreactivity for EGFR was seen in SFME cells, with a much
lower signal in the BUD cells, whereas highest levels of ErbB3 protein
were seen in ASC cells, followed by a weaker signal in the BUD cells.
All three cell lines expressed significant levels of ErbB2,
consistent with the mRNA measurements. Due to the presence of two
closely migrating species of ErbB2 in the BUD cells, the ErbB2 band
appears wider in the BUD cells than in the ASC cells, although the
intensity of the ErbB2 band is higher in the ASC cells. Similar
migration of two ErbB2 species was seen in the SFME cell lysate,
although here the separation between the bands was more distinct due to
lower levels of ErbB2 in the SFME cells. Immunoreactivity for ErbB4 at
the correct molecular mass (185 kDa) was only detected in SFME cells.
Note that the use of different antibodies and exposure times did not
allow direct comparison of protein levels between receptor immunoblots.
The band intensities on each blot are proportional to the differences
in mRNA expression levels, except in the case of ErbB2.

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Figure 4. Western blot analysis of ErbB receptor expression.
Total cell lysates from SFME, BUD, and ASC cells were run on 412%
polyacrylamide gels, transferred to a nitrocellulose membrane, and
probed with the relevant antibodies, as indicated. The expected sizes
of these receptors are: EGFR, 170 kDa; ErbB2, 185 kDa; ErbB3, 160 kDa;
and ErbB4, 180 kDa.
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Growth assays
To determine whether the presence of a receptor or a particular
receptor combination correlated with responsiveness to an ErbB ligand,
growth assays were performed with these cell lines in the
presence or absence of defined concentrations of EGF, BTC, HRG, or
SMDF. These ligands were chosen such that they exhibit different
receptor specificities. The results of treating these cell lines with
different concentrations (0, 2.5, 5, 10, and 20 nM) of EGF,
BTC, HRG, and SMDF are shown in Fig. 5
.
Significant growth stimulation was observed in BUD and BR516 cells in
response to stimulation with EGF, BTC, and HRG (P <
0.001). Neither of these cell lines responded to SMDF at any of the
doses tested. Both EGF and BTC stimulated cell proliferation in SFME
cells (P < 0.001), although these cells were
unresponsive to HRG and SMDF addition. The ASC cells, on the other
hand, responded robustly to stimulation by HRG and SMDF
(P < 0.001), but were unresponsive to EGF and BTC
addition. The maximal growth response was observed even at the lowest
dose of 2.5 nM for EGF and BTC in the BUD, BR516, and SFME
cells. Likewise, the growth response in ASC cells to HRG and SMDF was
maximal at 2.5 nM. The CM cells were not tested in the
growth assay, because they are terminally differentiated myocytes and
do not proliferate any further in vitro. However, an
important end point of responsiveness to hormonal and cytokine
stimulation in these cells is a hypertropic response (38). Of the four
ligands tested, EGF, BTC, and SMDF did not cause any significant
hypertrophy, whereas HRG induced a slight hypertropic response (data
not shown).

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Figure 5. Growth assays in the nanomolar range. Cells were
treated with various doses of ligands, as indicated, for 72 h, and
growth measurements were made (see Materials and
Methods). Results from a representative experiment are shown,
and data are represented as the fold induction of growth over the
control value. Each point represents the mean ±
SD (n = 3).
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To determine whether the level of expression of a particular
receptor or receptor combination also affected the sensitivity of
response to a given ligand, treatments with EGF, BTC, and HRG were also
carried out at a lower dose range (0, 1, 5, 25, and 125
pM), and growth responses were measured for all cell lines
(Fig. 6
), except CM. Treatment with EGF
and BTC elicited responses in BR516 and SFME cells at 525
pM, although the magnitude of response was different
between these two cell lines. The ASC cell line, which has high levels
of ErbB3, showed the greatest sensitivity to HRG, with detectable
response at 525 pM. The BR516 cell line did not respond
to HRG in this dose range. The BUD cell line did not respond to any of
these ligands in this dose range.

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Figure 6. Growth assays in the picomolar range. Cells were
treated with various doses of ligands, as indicated, for 72 h, and
growth measurements were made (see Materials and
Methods). Results from a representative experiment are shown,
and data are represented as the fold induction of growth over the
control value. Each point represents the mean ±
SD (n = 3).
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As the BUD and BR516 cell lines appeared to be
synthesizing the highest levels of HRG mRNA among the series of cell
lines tested, possible autocrine effects of HRG on these two lines were
next examined. In this instance, BUD and BR516 cells were cultured in
the presence or absence of ErbB4-IgG fusion protein (10 µg/ml; Fig. 7
). This protein consists of the
extracellular domain of ErbB4 fused to IgG and would be expected to
bind and sequester free extracellular HRG (44). The BUD cells remained
unaffected in the presence of the ErbB4-IgG fusion protein and showed
no change in the basal growth rate. In contrast, the BR516 cells showed
a 40% reduction in the basal growth rate in the presence of the
ErbB4-IgG fusion protein (P < 0.005).

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Figure 7. Effect of ErbB4-IgG on growth of BUD and BR516
cells. BUD and BR516 cells were treated with ErbB4-IgG (10 µg/ml) in
the absence of exogenous ErbB ligands in the growth medium. After
70 h of treatment, growth assays were performed (see
Materials and Methods). Data are represented as a
percentage of growth, with untreated controls representing 100%
growth. Results are the mean ± SD (n = 6). *,
P < 0.005 vs. control.
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Discussion
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This study was initiated to examine the role of the ErbB family of
receptors and ligands in nontransformed cells and cell lines, derived
from tissues where the receptors are normally expressed and functional.
The cell lines chosen cover a range of tissue types (heart, lung,
pancreas, and nervous system) and represent different ErbB expression
patterns. In addition, various ErbB gene deletions resulted in
considerable developmental abnormalities in these tissues.
Abnormalities in cardiac and brain development have been observed in
mice that lack HRG, ErbB2, ErbB3, and ErbB4, although the cardiac
effects were less severe for the ErbB3 knockout mice (23, 27, 28).
ErbB3 knockout mice also exhibited disruption in development of the
pancreas and other gastrointestinal organs. These data suggest that the
ErbB family plays an important role in the development of these
tissues.
Measurement of ErbB receptor mRNA levels indicated that all the cell
lines examined expressed either moderate (BUD, BR516, SFME, and CM) or
high (ASC) levels of ErbB2. This result is in agreement with the
generally accepted model of the ErbB2 receptor acting as a signaling
partner for the other ErbB receptors. The Schwann cells showed high
levels of expression of ErbB3 compared with the other cell lines
(35-fold higher than BR516 and BUD cell lines), and these cells
responded most robustly to stimulation with either HRG or SMDF, another
neuregulin isoform. The response to HRG was detected even at 25
pM, whereas the response to SMDF was detectable from 125
pM. Even though the BUD and BR516 cells respond to HRG at
nanomolar doses, they did not show any significant increases in growth
rates upon treatment with picomolar doses of HRG. One possible
explanation for this result would involve the autocrine stimulation of
these cells by endogenously synthesized HRG secreted by the cells
themselves, thereby making them insensitive to low doses of exogenous
ligand. Conditioned medium collected from BUD and BR516 cells did not
contain detectable levels of the ligand, as measured by an
enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay assay (data not shown) that detects
HRG levels as low as 1.25 nM. However, very low
concentrations of HRG might be sufficient to produce an autocrine
effect, and in addition, membrane-bound forms of HRG and other ErbB
ligands have been shown to be capable of signaling (45, 46, 47, 48). Therefore,
we used a fusion protein consisting of the extracellular domain of
ErbB4 conjugated to IgG to antagonize endogenous HRG that may be
membrane bound or secreted into the medium of BUD and BR516 cells.
Addition of this fusion protein caused no change in the growth
properties of the BUD cells under basal conditions, indicating that
these cells are not likely to undergo autocrine stimulation by HRG.
However, the reduction in the growth rate of BR516 cells indicates that
HRG and/or some other secreted ligand that is capable of binding to
ErbB4 is involved in autocrine stimulation of these cells.
In addition to such autocrine effects, there is evidence for a
paracrine role for the ErbB ligands as well, with the active ligand
secreted from the adjacent mesenchymal compartment or other closely
associated cells (23, 25, 49, 50). For instance, CMs are in close
contact with fibroblasts in the surrounding heart tissue. When RNA
extracted from a purified population of these fibroblasts was assayed
for expression of ErbB ligands and receptors, high levels of HRG mRNA
were detected, with no detectable levels of ErbB3 and ErbB4 (data not
shown). Thus, HRG secreted by cardiac fibroblasts may be available to
simulate CMs in a paracrine fashion. Cardiac fibroblasts have been
shown to secrete other factors in culture that can stimulate
hypertrophy in CMs (38).
The differential sensitivities of BUD, BR516, and ASC cells to HRG
suggest that in addition to determining whether a particular cell will
respond to a specific ligand, the receptor levels also determine the
sensitivity of the cell to that ligand. This effect is also seen with
respect to the effect of low doses of EGF on the BUD and SFME cell
lines. In this instance, although the BUD cells respond to EGF at
higher doses, they fail to do so in the picomolar dose range. In
contrast, the SFME cell line that expresses high levels of EGFR (7- and
20-fold greater than BR156 and BUD, respectively) is able to respond to
picomolar doses of EGF. As the SFME cells require EGF for survival
(51), it is difficult to interpret data from treatments with doses
lower than 25 pM, which is the minimum dose required for
survival. At doses higher than 25 pM, SFME cells respond
more robustly to EGF than any of the other cell lines in this series
(10-fold greater response that BUD or BR516 cell lines). This effect
may be partly attributed to the death of control cells grown in the
absence of EGF, thereby increasing the apparent magnitude of response.
Although BUD and BR516 cells appear to have similar ErbB receptor
levels, it should be noted that there is a 50% higher expression of
EGFR in BR516 cells compared with that in BUD cells. This difference
might account for the differential responsiveness of BUD and BR516
cells to picomolar doses of EGF.
Neither BR516 nor BUD cells responded to SMDF even in the higher
(nanomolar) dose range. It has been demonstrated in vitro
that the binding affinity of SMDF for ErbB2/3 dimer is lower than its
affinity for the ErbB2/4 pair, but in either case it is not nearly as
high as the affinity of these heterodimers for HRG (Osheroff, P. L., S.
P. Tsai, N. Y. Chiang, K. L. King, J. P. Mather, manuscript in
preparation). However, the lower affinity of the ligand may be
compensated for in the Schwann cells by the high expression levels of
ErbB2 and ErbB3, providing a possible explanation for the
responsiveness of these cells to SMDF, in contrast to that of the BUD
and BR516 cell lines.
The tight correlation observed between the levels of expression of
certain ErbB receptors and the growth responsiveness to ligand
stimulation (summarized in Table 3
)
supports the hypothesis that the growth responsiveness of a tissue type
to a specific ErbB ligand is dependent on the ErbB receptor expression
profile in that tissue. Similar results have been obtained in certain
other studies that have used cells transfected with one or more ErbB
receptors (53, 54, 55). Our study further extends these observations to
include nontransformed and untransfected cells derived from normal
tissues. In the current series of experiments, high expression of EGFR
correlated with increased growth stimulation by EGF and BTC, whereas
high levels of ErbB3 correlated with a greater mitogenic response to
HRG and SMDF, with all cell lines expressing appreciable levels of
ErbB2. However, unlike the other ErbB receptors, levels of ErbB2
protein did not correlate well with mRNA levels. It should be noted
that mRNA levels do not always accurately reflect protein levels for
many reasons, including differential rates of synthesis and proteolysis
for different proteins. It should also be noted that we have only
examined one end point of ligand stimulation, namely growth. Whether
other effects of ErbB stimulation, such as differentiation or survival,
are similarly correlated with the expression levels of ErbB receptors
or whether different levels of receptor occupancy might be required for
different responses remains to be determined. Furthermore, it is
conceivable that treatment of these cell lines with ErbB ligands may
induce the expression of growth factors or alter the expression of
different ErbB receptors and ligands. In addition, these growth
experiments can be expected to estimate the upper range of dose
required for biological responsiveness, because in vivo
ligand production is likely to be continuous (at least for short
periods of time) rather than the single dose stimulation given in
vitro in these experiments.
View this table:
[in this window]
[in a new window]
|
Table 3. Summary of receptor expression and ligand
sensitivity in the BUD, BR156, ASC, and SFME cell lines; the affinities
of the ErbB ligands used in this study for the different ErbB receptors
are also indicated
|
|
Although our results are generally in agreement with proposed ErbB
ligand receptor specificities from other studies in this field, it is
clear from our studies that biological response to ErbB ligands may
vary considerably between cell lines that express different levels of
the same receptors. It is therefore important to interpret data from
overexpression studies with caution because they may not accurately
reflect the responsiveness of tissues expressing normal levels of these
receptors. In summary, using a series of nontransformed cell lines, we
have demonstrated that the ability of normal cells to respond to ErbB
ligands is dependent on the levels of expression of specific ErbB
receptors. Such experiments are crucial in understanding the
receptor-response relationship under normal conditions and in providing
important clues on the ability of different tissues to respond
differentially to the same ligand.
 |
Acknowledgments
|
|---|
The authors thank Jane Winer for preparation of CM cultures,
Phyllis Osheroff for providing SMDF, P. Mickey Williams for helpful
discussions, Paul Pisacane for performing the HRG enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay, and, James Reimann and Srikantan Nagarajan for
assistance with statistical analyses.
Received June 30, 1998.
 |
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