Phosphorylation of RXRα mediates the effect of JNK to suppress hepatic FGF21 expression and promote metabolic syndrome

Abstract

The cJun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling pathway in the liver promotes systemic changes in metabolism by regulating peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα)-dependent expression of the hepatokine fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21). Hepatocyte-specific gene ablation studies demonstrated that theMapk9gene (encoding JNK2) plays a key mechanistic role. Mutually exclusive inclusion of exons 7a and 7b yields expression of the isoforms JNK2α and JNK2β. Here we demonstrate thatFgf21gene expression and metabolic regulation are primarily regulated by the JNK2α isoform. To identify relevant substrates of JNK2α, we performed a quantitative phosphoproteomic study of livers isolated from control mice, mice with JNK deficiency in hepatocytes, and mice that express only JNK2α or JNK2β in hepatocytes. We identified the JNK substrate retinoid X receptor α (RXRα) as a protein that exhibited JNK2α-promoted phosphorylation in vivo. RXRα functions as a heterodimeric partner of PPARα and may therefore mediate the effects of JNK2α signaling onFgf21expression. To test this hypothesis, we established mice with hepatocyte-specific expression of wild-type or mutated RXRα proteins. We found that the RXRα phosphorylation site Ser260was required for suppression ofFgf21gene expression. Collectively, these data establish a JNK-mediated signaling pathway that regulates hepaticFgf21expression.