Abstract 3445: Mechanism, physiological and therapeutic implications of LGR-independent potentiation of WNT signaling by R-spondins

Abstract

Abstract The WNT signaling pathway encodes positional information in animals, orchestrates patterning and morphogenesis during embryonic development, and promotes tissue renewal and regeneration in adults. Dysregulation of WNT signaling has been implicated in many diseases, including developmental malformations, skeletal and dental abnormalities, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disorders, diabetes, and many types of cancer. Members of the R-spondin family of secreted growth factors have emerged as key regulators of WNT signaling strength. The R-spondin system is a vertebrate adaptation that may be related to the appearance of sophisticated stem cell compartments, which require exquisite control of WNT signaling. The four members of the family (R-spondin 1-4) can strongly potentiate responses to WNT ligands during development and in stem cells, but the mechanisms by which they transduce signals are not fully understood and the reasons why they produce different physiological effects are largely unknown. Unexpectedly, we discovered that R-spondins 2 and 3 can uniquely potentiate WNT signaling in cells lacking LGRs 4, 5 and 6, the principal R-spondin receptors. We determined the protein domains on R-spondins necessary and sufficient for this new mode of signaling, and showed that it is mediated by an alternative interaction with cell-surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans. This finding is transformative because LGRs 4-6 were thought to be required to transduce all R-spondin signals and hence determine their site of action. Indeed, these LGRs are highly expressed in many stem cell compartments whose maintenance depends on potentiation of WNT signaling by R-spondins. Instead our work shows that there are two modes of signaling by R-spondins, an LGR-dependent and an LGR-independent mode, and that different R-spondins may use distinct molecular mechanisms to transduce signals in various biological contexts. Supporting our findings, recent work from another group demonstrated that during limb development, R-spondin 2 signals through an LGR-independent mechanism. Since components of the R-spondin signaling module are commonly mutated in cancer, therapeutic targeting of LGR-independent signaling deserves evaluation. I will present the results demonstrating our conclusions and discuss their implications in physiology and disease. Citation Format: Andres M. Lebensohn, Rajat Rohatgi. Mechanism, physiological and therapeutic implications of LGR-independent potentiation of WNT signaling by R-spondins [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 3445.