Sensing relative signal in the Tgf-β/Smad pathway

Abstract

How signaling pathways function reliably despite cellular variation remains a question in many systems. In the transforming growth factor-β (Tgf-β) pathway, exposure to ligand stimulates nuclear localization of Smad proteins, which then regulate target gene expression. Examining Smad3 dynamics in live reporter cells, we found evidence for fold-change detection. Although the level of nuclear Smad3 varied across cells, the fold change in the level of nuclear Smad3 was a more precise outcome of ligand stimulation. The precision of the fold-change response was observed throughout the signaling duration and across Tgf-β doses, and significantly increased the information transduction capacity of the pathway. Using single-molecule FISH, we further observed that expression of Smad3 target genes (<i>ctgf</i>, <i>snai1</i>, and <i>wnt9a</i>) correlated more strongly with the fold change, rather than the level, of nuclear Smad3. These findings suggest that some target genes sense Smad3 level relative to background, as a strategy for coping with cellular noise.