Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.7.10.2 (focal adhesion kinase)
 44,029 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Insulin rapidly activates protein synthesis by activating components of the translational machinery including eIFs (eukaryotic initiation factors) and eEFs (eukaryotic elongation factors). In the long term, insulin also increases the cellular content of ribosomes to augment the capacity for protein synthesis. The rapid activation of protein synthesis by insulin is mediated primarily through phosphoinositide 3-kinase. This involves the activation of PKB (protein kinase B). In one case, PKB acts to phosphorylate and inactivate glycogen synthase kinase 3, which in turn phosphorylates and inhibits eIF2B. Insulin elicits the dephosphorylation and activation of eIF2B. Since eIF2B is required for recycling of eIF2, a factor required for all cytoplasmic translation initiation events, this will contribute to overall activation of protein synthesis. PKB also phosphorylates the TSC1 (tuberous sclerosis complex 1)-TSC2 complex to relieve its inhibitory action on the mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin). Inhibition of mTOR by rapamycin markedly impairs insulin-activated protein synthesis. mTOR controls translation initiation and elongation. The cap-binding factor eIF4E can be sequestered in inactive complexes by 4E-BP1 (eIF4E-binding protein 1). Insulin elicits phosphorylation of 4E-BP1 and its release from eIF4E, allowing eIF4E to form initiation factor complexes. Insulin induces dephosphorylation and activation of eEF2 to accelerate elongation. Both effects are blocked by rapamycin. Insulin inactivates eEF2 kinase by increasing its phosphorylation at several mTOR-regulated sites. Insulin also stimulates synthesis of ribosomal proteins by promoting recruitment of their mRNAs into polyribosomes. This is inhibited by rapamycin. Several key questions remain about, for example, the mechanisms by which mTOR controls 4E-BP1 and eEF2 kinase and the control of ribosomal protein translation.
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PMID:Regulation of protein synthesis by insulin. 1654 79

The target of rapamycin (TOR) is an ancient effector of cell growth that integrates signals from growth factors and nutrients. Two downstream effectors of mammalian TOR, the translational components S6K1 and 4EBP1, are commonly used as reporters of mTOR activity. The conical signaling cascade initiated by growth factors is mediated by PI3K, PKB, TSC1/2 and Rheb. However, the process through which nutrients, i.e., amino acids, activate mTOR remains largely unknown. Evidence exists for both an intracellular and/or a membrane bound sensor for amino acid mediated mTOR activation. Research in eukaryotic models, has implicated amino acid transporters as nutrient sensors. This review describes recent advances in nutrient signaling that impinge on mTOR and its targets including hVps34, class III PI3K, a transducer of nutrient availability to mTOR.
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PMID:The amino acid sensitive TOR pathway from yeast to mammals. 1668 41

Focal cortical dysplasias (FCD) with Taylor-type balloon cells (FCD(IIb)) are frequently observed in biopsy specimens of patients with pharmacoresistant focal epilepsies. The molecular pathogenesis of FCD(IIb), which lack familial inheritance, is only poorly understood. Due to their highly differentiated, malformative nature and glioneuronal phenotype, FCD(IIb) share neuropathological characteristics with lesions observed in familial disorders such as cortical tubers present in patients with autosomal dominant tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), related to mutations in the TSC1 or TSC2 genes, and dysplastic gangliocytomas of the cerebellum found in Cowden disease. Current data have indicated distinct allelic variants of TSC1 to accumulate in FCD(IIb). TSC1 represents a tumor suppressor operating in the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/insulin pathway. The tumor-suppressor gene PTEN is mutated in Cowden disease. Like PTEN, also carboxyl-terminal modulator protein (CTMP) modulates PI3K-pathway signaling, both via inhibition of Akt/PKB, a kinase inactivating the TSC1/TSC2 complex. Here, we have analyzed alterations of Akt, PTEN and CTMP relevant for insulin signaling upstream of TSC1/TSC2 in FCD(IIb). Immunohistochemistry with antibodies against phosphorylated Akt (phospho-Akt; Ser 473) in FCD(IIb) (n=23) showed strong phospho-Akt expression in dysplastic FCD(IIb) components. We have further studied sequence alterations of PTEN (n=34 FCD(IIb)) and CTMP (n=20 FCD(IIb)) by laser microdissection/single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis. We observed a somatic mutation in an FCD(IIb), i.e., amino-acid exchange at nucleotide position 834 (PTEN cDNA, GenBank AH007803.1) in exon 8 with replacement of phenylalanine by leucine (F278L). We also found several silent polymorphisms of PTEN in exon 2 and exon 8 as well as silent and coding polymorphisms but no mutations in CTMP. No loss of heterozygosity in FCD(IIb) (n=6) at 10q23 was observed. To our knowledge, we here report on the first somatic mutation of a tumor-suppressor gene, i.e., PTEN, in FCD(IIb). However, our study also demonstrates that mutational alterations of PTEN and CTMP do not play major pathogenetic roles for activation of Akt in FCD(IIb). Future studies need to determine the origin of insulin pathway activation upstream of TSC1/TSC2 in FCD(IIb).
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PMID:Activation of Akt independent of PTEN and CTMP tumor-suppressor gene mutations in epilepsy-associated Taylor-type focal cortical dysplasias. 1701 11

The control of cell growth, that is cell size, is largely controlled by mTOR (the mammalian target of rapamycin), a large serine/threonine protein kinase that regulates ribosome biogenesis and protein translation. mTOR activity is regulated both by the availability of growth factors, such as insulin/IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor 1), and by nutrients, notably the supply of certain key amino acids. The last few years have seen a remarkable increase in our understanding of the canonical, growth factor-regulated pathway for mTOR activation, which is mediated by the class I PI3Ks (phosphoinositide 3-kinases), PKB (protein kinase B), TSC1/2 (the tuberous sclerosis complex) and the small GTPase, Rheb. However, the nutrient-responsive input into mTOR is important in its own right and is also required for maximal activation of mTOR signalling by growth factors. Despite this, the details of the nutrient-responsive signalling pathway(s) controlling mTOR have remained elusive, although recent studies have suggested a role for the class III PI3K hVps34. In this issue of the Biochemical Journal, Findlay et al. demonstrate that the protein kinase MAP4K3 [mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase kinase-3, a Ste20 family protein kinase also known as GLK (germinal centre-like kinase)] is a new component of the nutrient-responsive pathway. MAP4K3 activity is stimulated by administration of amino acids, but not growth factors, and this is insensitive to rapamycin, most likely placing MAP4K3 upstream of mTOR. Indeed, MAP4K3 is required for phosphorylation of known mTOR targets such as S6K1 (S6 kinase 1), and overexpression of MAP4K3 promotes the rapamycin-sensitive phosphorylation of these same targets. Finally, knockdown of MAP4K3 levels causes a decrease in cell size. The results suggest that MAP4K3 is a new component in the nutrient-responsive pathway for mTOR activation and reveal a completely new function for MAP4K3 in promoting cell growth. Given that mTOR activity is frequently deregulated in cancer, there is much interest in new strategies for inhibition of this pathway. In this context, MAP4K3 looks like an attractive drug target since inhibitors of this enzyme should switch off mTOR, thereby inhibiting cell growth and proliferation, and promoting apoptosis.
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PMID:Nutrient-responsive mTOR signalling grows on Sterile ground. 1734 40

The heterotrimeric mTORC1 protein kinase nucleates a signaling network that promotes cell growth in response to insulin and becomes constitutively active in cells missing the TSC1 or TSC2 tumor suppressors. Insulin stimulates the phosphorylation of S6K1, an mTORC1 substrate, but it is not known how mTORC1 kinase activity is regulated. We identify PRAS40 as a raptor-interacting protein that binds to mTORC1 in insulin-deprived cells and whose in vitro interaction with mTORC1 is disrupted by high salt concentrations. PRAS40 inhibits cell growth, S6K1 phosphorylation, and rheb-induced activation of the mTORC1 pathway, and in vitro it prevents the great increase in mTORC1 kinase activity induced by rheb1-GTP. Insulin stimulates Akt/PKB-mediated phosphorylation of PRAS40, which prevents its inhibition of mTORC1 in cells and in vitro. We propose that the relative strengths of the rheb- and PRAS40-mediated inputs to mTORC1 set overall pathway activity and that insulin activates mTORC1 through the coordinated regulation of both.
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PMID:PRAS40 is an insulin-regulated inhibitor of the mTORC1 protein kinase. 1738 66

Phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3K) orchestrate cell responses including mitogenic signaling, cell survival and growth, metabolic control, vesicular trafficking, degranulation, cytoskeletal rearrangement and migration. Deregulation of the PI3K pathway occurs by activating mutations in growth factor receptors or the PIK3CA locus coding for PI3Kalpha, by loss of function of the lipid phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted in chromosome ten (PTEN/MMAC/TEP1), by the up-regulation of protein kinase B (PKB/Akt), or the impairment of the tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC1/2). All these events are linked to growth and proliferation, and have thus prompted a significant interest in the pharmaceutical targeting of the PI3K pathway in cancer. Genetic targeting of PI3Kgamma (p110gamma) and PI3Kdelta (p110delta) in mice has underlined a central role of these PI3K isoforms in inflammation and allergy, as they modulate chemotaxis of leukocytes and degranulation in mast cells. Proof-of-concept molecules selective for PI3Kgamma have already successfully alleviated disease progress in murine models of rheumatoid arthritis and lupus erythematosus. As targeting PI3K moves forward to therapy of chronic, non-fatal disease, safety concerns for PI3K inhibitors increase. Many of the present inhibitor series interfere with target of rapamycin (TOR), DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK(cs)) and activity of the ataxia telangiectasia mutated gene product (ATM). Here we review the current disease-relevant knowledge for isoform-specific PI3K function in the above mentioned diseases, and review the progress of >400 recent patents covering pharmaceutical targeting of PI3K. Currently, several drugs targeting the PI3K pathway have entered clinical trials (phase I) for solid tumors and suppression of tissue damage after myocardial infarction (phases I,II).
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PMID:Targeting phosphoinositide 3-kinase: moving towards therapy. 1799 86

Tuberous sclerosis (TS), neurocutaneous disorder resulting from the mutation of 1 of 2 genes, TSC1 or TSC2, is often associated with the formation of hamartomatous lesions in various organ systems, including the skin. TS patients may present with hypomelanic macules, confetti-like spots, facial angiofibromas, ungual fibromas, shagreen patches, forehead plaques, and other dermatological signs. Some of these manifestations are pathognomic for TS and thus should be carefully evaluated when TS diagnosis is suspected. Little is known however on molecular links connecting disease pathogenesis and formation of such hamartomas. In the current review, we describe molecular pathways thought to be responsible for the development of the disease and show how their upregulation may affect the skin. Special attention is paid to protein kinase B (PKB/Akt), extracellular signal-regulated kinase, and mammalian target of rapamycin, which have recently been found to participate in the control of melanin biosynthesis through microphthalmia-associated transcription factor and tyrosinase transcription.
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PMID:Molecular implications of skin lesions in tuberous sclerosis. 1849 27

Akt/PKB (protein kinase B) both regulates and is regulated by the TSC (tuberous sclerosis complex) 1-TSC2 complex. Downstream of PI3K (phosphoinositide 3-kinase), Akt phosphorylates TSC2 directly on multiple sites. Although the molecular mechanism is not well understood, these phosphorylation events relieve the inhibitory effects of the TSC1-TSC2 complex on Rheb and mTORC1 [mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) complex] 1, thereby activating mTORC1 in response to growth factors. Through negative-feedback mechanisms, mTORC1 activity inhibits growth factor stimulation of PI3K. This is particularly evident in cells and tumours lacking the TSC1-TSC2 complex, where Akt signalling is severely attenuated due, at least in part, to constitutive activation of mTORC1. An additional level of complexity in the relationship between Akt and the TSC1-TSC2 complex has recently been uncovered. The growth-factor-stimulated kinase activity of mTORC2 [also known as the mTOR-rictor (rapamycin-insensitive companion of mTOR) complex], which normally enhances Akt signalling by phosphorylating its hydrophobic motif (Ser(473)), was found to be defective in cells lacking the TSC1-TSC2 complex. This effect on mTORC2 can be separated from the inhibitory effects of the TSC1-TSC2 complex on Rheb and mTORC1. The present review discusses our current understanding of the increasingly complex functional interactions between Akt, the TSC1-TSC2 complex and mTOR, which are fundamentally important players in a large variety of human diseases.
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PMID:A complex interplay between Akt, TSC2 and the two mTOR complexes. 1914 35

Oxidants are well recognized for their capacity to reduce the phosphorylation of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) substrates, eukaryotic initiation factor 4E-binding protein 1 (4E-BP1) and p70 S6 kinase 1 (S6K1), thereby hindering mRNA translation at the level of initiation. mTOR functions to regulate mRNA translation by forming the signaling complex mTORC1 (mTOR, raptor, GbetaL). Insulin signaling to mTORC1 is dependent upon phosphorylation of Akt/PKB and the inhibition of the tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC1/2), thereby enhancing the phosphorylation of 4E-BP1 and S6K1. In this study we report the effect of H(2)O(2) on insulin-stimulated mTORC1 activity and assembly using A549 and bovine aortic smooth muscle cells. We show that insulin stimulated the phosphorylation of TSC2 leading to a reduction in raptor-mTOR binding and in the quantity of proline-rich Akt substrate 40 (PRAS40) precipitating with mTOR. Insulin also increased 4E-BP1 coprecipitating with mTOR and the phosphorylation of the mTORC1 substrates 4E-BP1 and S6K1. H(2)O(2), on the other hand, opposed the effects of insulin by increasing raptor-mTOR binding and the ratio of PRAS40/raptor derived from the mTOR immunoprecipitates in both cell types. These effects occurred in conjunction with a reduction in 4E-BP1 phosphorylation and the 4E-BP1/raptor ratio. siRNA-mediated knockdown of PRAS40 in A549 cells partially reversed the effect of H(2)O(2) on 4E-BP1 phosphorylation but not on S6K1. These findings are consistent with PRAS40 functioning as a negative regulator of insulin-stimulated mTORC1 activity during oxidant stress.
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PMID:Hydrogen peroxide impairs insulin-stimulated assembly of mTORC1. 1928 42

cAMP and mTOR signalling pathways control a number of critical cellular processes including metabolism, protein synthesis, proliferation and cell survival and therefore understanding the signalling events which integrate these two signalling pathways is of particular interest. In this study, we show that the pharmacological elevation of [cAMP](i) in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) and human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK293) cells inhibits mTORC1 activation via a PKA-dependent mechanism. Although the inhibitory effect of cAMP on mTOR could be mediated by impinging on signalling cascades (i.e. PKB, MAPK and AMPK) that inhibit TSC1/2, an upstream negative regulator of mTORC1, we show that cAMP inhibits mTORC1 in TSC2 knockout (TSC2(-/-)) MEFs. We also show that cAMP inhibits insulin and amino acid-stimulated mTORC1 activation independently of Rheb, Rag GTPases, TSC2, PKB, MAPK and AMPK, indicating that cAMP may act independently of known regulatory inputs into mTOR. Moreover, we show that the prolonged elevation in [cAMP](i) can also inhibit mTORC2. We provide evidence that this cAMP-dependent inhibition of mTORC1/2 is caused by the dissociation of mTORC1 and 2 and a reduction in mTOR catalytic activity, as determined by its auto-phosphorylation on Ser2481. Taken together, these results provide an important insight into how cAMP signals to mTOR and down-regulates its activity, which may lead to the identification of novel drug targets to inhibit mTOR that could be used for the treatment and prevention of human diseases such as cancer.
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PMID:cAMP inhibits mammalian target of rapamycin complex-1 and -2 (mTORC1 and 2) by promoting complex dissociation and inhibiting mTOR kinase activity. 2176 21


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