Extracellular sodium regulates fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) formation

The bone-derived hormone fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF23) has recently received much attention due to its association with chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease progression. Extracellular sodium concentration ([Na⁺]) plays a significant role in bone metabolism. Hyponatremia (lower serum [Na⁺]) has recently been shown to be independently associated with FGF23 levels in patients with chronic systolic heart failure. However, nothing is known about the direct impact of [Na⁺] on FGF23 production. Here, we show that an elevated [Na⁺] (+20 mM) suppressed FGF23 formation, whereas low [Na⁺] (-20 mM) increased FGF23 synthesis in the osteoblast-like cell lines UMR-106 and MC3T3-E1. Similar bidirectional changes in FGF23 abundance were observed when osmolality was altered by mannitol but not by urea, suggesting a role of tonicity in FGF23 formation. Moreover, these changes in FGF23 were inversely proportional to the expression of NFAT5 (nuclear factor of activated T cells-5), a transcription factor responsible for tonicity-mediated cellular adaptations. Furthermore, arginine vasopressin, which is often responsible for hyponatremia, did not affect FGF23 production. Next, we performed a comprehensive and unbiased RNA-seq analysis of UMR-106 cells exposed to low versus high [Na⁺], which revealed several novel genes involved in cellular adaptation to altered tonicity. Additional analysis of cells with Crisp-Cas9-mediated NFAT5 deletion indicated that NFAT5 controls numerous genes associated with FGF23 synthesis, thereby confirming its role in [Na⁺]-mediated FGF23 regulation. In line with these in vitro observations, we found that hyponatremia patients have higher FGF23 levels. Our results suggest that [Na⁺] is a critical regulator of FGF23 synthesis.