Andrei et al., 2004) and by plasma membrane shedding (MacKenzie et al., 2001). Here, I discuss a new model for the molecular mechanism of FGF-2 secretion based on recent data. Key aspects of this model are: (1) direct translocation of FGF-2 from the cytoplasm across the plasma membrane in the absence of transport vesicles; (2) the independence of membrane translocation from ATP hydrolysis or a membrane potential; (3) diffusion-controlled membrane translocation process; and (4) an extracellular molecular trap formed by membrane-proximal heparan sulfates that ensures directional transport of FGF-2 into the extracellular space.
Passive versus active mechanisms of translocationCentral to the molecular mechanism of FGF-2 secretion is the question of what actually drives translocation of FGF-2 across the plasma membrane in terms of energy requirements. Studies employing an intact cell model system led to the proposal that the overall process of FGF-2 secretion in living cells depends on ATP hydrolysis (Florkiewicz et al., 1995). However, the early data did not really demonstrate that membrane translocation itself is driven by ATP hydrolysis. Depletion of ATP from intact cells affects many fundamental cellular functions and, therefore, the inefficient FGF-2 secretion observed could well be an indirect effect. An in vitro approach using plasma-membrane-derived inside-out vesicles shows that FGF-2 can translocate directly across the plasma membrane but that neither ATP hydrolysis nor a membrane potential is required (Schäfer et al., 2004). FGF-2 thus appears to traverse the plasma membrane by passive diffusion.At first glance, passive diffusion seems unusual compared with other membrane translocation processes, such as import into the mitochondrial matrix (driven by ATP hydrolysis) (Neupert and Herrmann, 2007) or the bacterical twin arginine secretion system (driven by a membrane potential) (Lee et al., Several secretory proteins are released from cells by mechanisms that are distinct from the classical endoplasmic reticulum (ER)/Golgi-mediated secretory pathway. Recent studies unexpectedly revealed that the interaction between one such protein, fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF-2), and cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) is essential for secretion. FGF-2 mutants that cannot bind to heparan sulfates are not secreted, and cells that do not express functional HSPGs cannot secrete wild-type FGF-2. FGF-2 appears to be secreted by direct translocation across the plasma membrane in an ATP-and membrane-potentialindependent manner. I propose that its translocation across the membrane is a diffusion-controlled process in which cell surface HSPGs function as an extracellular molecular trap that drives directional transport of FGF-2.