FXR Primes the Liver for Intestinal FGF15 Signaling by Transient Induction of β-Klotho

Abstract

The bile acid (BA)-sensing nuclear receptor, farnesoid X receptor (FXR), regulates postprandial metabolic responses, including inhibition of BA synthesis, by inducing the intestinal hormone, fibroblast growth factor (FGF)15 (FGF19 in human). In this study, we tested a novel hypothesis that FXR not only induces intestinal FGF15 but also primes the liver for effectively responding to the signal by transcriptional induction of the obligate coreceptor for FGF15, β-Klotho (βKL). Activation of FXR by a synthetic agonist, GW4064, in mice increased occupancy of FXR and its DNA-binding partner, retinoid X receptor-α, at FGF15-signaling component genes, particularly β KL, and induced expression of these genes. Interestingly, mRNA levels of Fgfr4, the FGF15 receptor, were not increased by GW4064, but protein levels increased as a result of βKL-dependent increased protein stability. Both FGF receptor 4 and βKL protein levels were substantially decreased in FXR-knockout (KO) mice, and FGF19 signaling, monitored by phosphorylated ERK, was blunted in FXR-KO mice, FXR-KO mouse hepatocytes, and FXR-down-regulated human hepatocytes. Overexpression of βKL in FXR-lacking hepatocytes partially restored FGF19 signaling and inhibition by FGF19 of Cyp7a1, which encodes the rate-limiting BA biosynthetic enzyme. In mice, transient inductions of intestinal Fgf15 and hepatic β KL were temporally correlated after GW4064 treatment, and pretreatment of hepatocytes with GW4064 before FGF19 treatment enhanced FGF19 signaling, which was abolished by transcriptional inhibition or βKL down-regulation. This study identifies FXR as a gut-liver metabolic coordinator for FGF15/19 action that orchestrates transient induction of hepatic β KL and intestinal Fgf15/19 in a temporally correlated manner.