Amino acid 72 of mouse and human GDF9 mature domain is responsible for altered homodimer bioactivities but has subtle effects on GDF9:BMP15 heterodimer activities.

Growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF9) and bone morphogenetic protein 15 (BMP15) are oocyte-secreted paralogs of the transforming growth factor beta (TGFbeta) superfamily. In mammals, these two growth factors play critical roles in folliculogenesis. As previously reported, an arginine in the pre-helix loop of GDF5 defines the high binding specificity to its type 1 receptor. Interestingly, bioactive mouse GDF9 and human BMP15 share the conserved arginine in the pre-helix loop, but their low-activity counterparts (mouse BMP15 and human GDF9) have a glycine or a proline instead. To address the question of whether the arginine residue defines the different activities of GDF9 and BMP15 homodimers and their heterodimers in human and mouse, we used site-directed mutagenesis to change the species-specific residues in human and mouse proteins, and examined their activities in our in vitro assays. Although amino acid 72 of mature GDF9 is responsible for altered homodimer bioactivities, neither the corresponding BMP15 amino acid 62 nor the intact pre-helix loop is indispensable for BMP15 homodimer activity. However, amino acid 72 in GDF9 only has only subtle effects on GDF9:BMP15 heterodimer activity. Based on previous studies and our recent findings, we provide hypothetical models to understand the molecular mechanism to define activities of the homodimeric and heterodimeric ligands. The arginine residue in the pre-helix loop of GDF9 homodimer may prevent the inhibition from its pro-domain or directly alter receptor binding, but this residue in GDF9 does not significantly affect the heterodimer activity, because of suggested conformational changes during heterodimer formation.

Growth differentiation factor 9:bone morphogenetic protein 15 heterodimers are potent regulators of ovarian functions.

The TGF-ß superfamily is the largest family of secreted proteins in mammals, and members of the TGF-ß family are involved in most developmental and physiological processes. Growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF9) and bone morphogenetic protein 15 (BMP15), oocyte-secreted paralogs of the TGF-ß superfamily, have been shown genetically to control ovarian physiology. Although previous studies found that GDF9 and BMP15 homodimers can modulate ovarian pathways in vitro, the functional species-specific significance of GDF9:BMP15 heterodimers remained unresolved. Therefore, we engineered and produced purified recombinant mouse and human GDF9 and BMP15 homodimers and GDF9:BMP15 heterodimers to compare their molecular characteristics and physiological functions. In mouse granulosa cell and cumulus cell expansion assays, mouse GDF9 and human BMP15 homodimers can up-regulate cumulus expansion-related genes (Ptx3, Has2, and Ptgs2) and promote cumulus expansion in vitro, whereas mouse BMP15 and human GDF9 homodimers are essentially inactive. However, we discovered that mouse GDF9:BMP15 heterodimer is ∼10- to 30-fold more biopotent than mouse GDF9 homodimer, and human GDF9:BMP15 heterodimer is ∼1,000- to 3,000-fold more bioactive than human BMP15 homodimer. We also demonstrate that the heterodimers require the kinase activities of ALK4/5/7 and BMPR2 to activate SMAD2/3 but unexpectedly need ALK6 as a coreceptor in the signaling complex in granulosa cells. Our findings that GDF9:BMP15 heterodimers are the most bioactive ligands in mice and humans compared with homodimers explain many puzzling genetic and physiological data generated during the last two decades and have important implications for improving female fertility in mammals.