The Docking Protein FRS2α Is an Essential Component of Multiple Fibroblast Growth Factor Responses during Early Mouse Development

Abstract

The docking protein FRS2α is a major mediator of fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling. However, the physiological role of FRS2α in vivo remains unknown. In this report, we show that Frs2α-null mouse embryos have a defect in anterior-posterior (A-P) axis formation and are developmentally retarded, resulting in embryonic lethality by embryonic day 8. We demonstrate that FRS2α is essential for the maintenance of self-renewing trophoblast stem (TS) cells in response to FGF4 in the extraembryonic ectoderm (ExE) that gives rise to tissues of the placenta. By analyzing chimeric embryos, we found that FRS2α also plays a role in cell movement through the primitive streak during gastrulation. In addition, experiments are presented demonstrating that Bmp4 expression in TS cells is controlled by mitogen-activated protein kinase-dependent FGF4 stimulation. Moreover, both the expression of Bmp4 in ExE and activation of Smad1/5 in epiblasts are reduced in Frs2α-null embryos. These experiments underscore the critical role of FRS2α in mediating multiple processes during embryonic development and reveal a potential new link between FGF and Bmp4 signaling pathways in early embryogenesis.