Auxiliary and autonomous proteoglycan signaling networks

Abstract

Proteoglycans represent a structurally heterogeneous family of proteins that typically undergo extensive posttranslational modification with sulfated sugar chains. Although historically believed to affect signaling pathways exclusively as growth factor coreceptors, proteoglycans are now understood to initiate and modulate signal transduction cascades independently of other receptors. From within the extracellular matrix, proteoglycans are able to shield protein growth factors from circulating proteases and establish gradients that guide cell migration. Extracellular proteoglycans are also critical in the maintenance of growth factor stores and are thus instrumental in modulating paracrine signaling. At the cell membrane, proteoglycans stabilize ligand-receptor interactions, creating potentiated ternary signaling complexes that regulate cell proliferation, endocytosis, migration, growth factor sensitivity, and matrix adhesion. In some cases, proteoglycans are able to independently activate various signaling cascades, attenuate the signaling of growth factors, or orchestrate multimeric intracellular signaling complexes. Signaling between cells is also modulated by proteoglycan activity at the cell membrane, as exemplified by the proteoglycan requirement for effective synaptogenesis between neurons. Finally, proteoglycans are able to regulate signaling from intracellular compartments, particularly in the context of storage granule formation and maintenance. These proteoglycans are also major determinants of exocytic vesicle fate and other vesicular trafficking pathways. In contrast to the mechanisms underlying classical ligand-receptor signaling, proteoglycan signaling is frequently characterized by ligand promiscuity and low-affinity binding; likewise, these events commonly do not exhibit the same degree of reliance on intermolecular structure or charge configurations as other ligand-receptor interactions. Such unique features often defy conventional mechanisms of signal transduction, and present unique challenges to the study of their indispensable roles within cell signaling networks.