Signal transduction by fibroblast growth factor receptor-4 (FGFR-4). Comparison with FGFR-1

We have studied the signal transduction pathways of fibroblast growth factor receptor-4 (FGFR-4) and FGFR-1, which showed virtually identical acidic fibroblast growth factor binding profiles as well as tyrosine autophosphorylation upon activation in transfected L6 rat myoblasts and NIH3T3 mouse fibroblasts. A prominently tyrosyl-phosphorylated doublet of polypeptides of 85 kDa coprecipitated with activated FGFR-4 from both cell lines studied, but these polypeptides were not detected upon immunoprecipitation of activated FGFR-1. Furthermore, FGFR-4 induced only a weak tyrosyl phosphorylation of phospholipase C-gamma and no detectable tyrosyl phosphorylation of the SHC adaptor proteins in contrast to FGFR-1. No phosphorylation of Ras GTPase-activating protein, p64 Syp/PTP1D tyrosine phosphatase, or association of the GRB2 adaptor protein SH2 domain with these receptors was detected. Unlike FGFR-1, FGFR-4 induced only a barely detectable phosphorylation of the cellular serine/threonine kinase Raf-1 and a weaker tyrosyl phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinases than FGFR-1. Despite these differences, stimulation of both receptors resulted in increased DNA synthesis.