Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.7.11.31 (AMP-activated protein kinase)
 13,065 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is an important energy-sensing protein in skeletal muscle. Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) mediates translation initiation and protein synthesis through ribosomal S6 kinase 1 (S6K1) and eukaryotic initiation factor 4E-binding protein 1 (4E-BP1). AMPK activation reduces muscle protein synthesis by down-regulating mTOR signaling, whereas insulin mediates mTOR signaling via Akt activation. We hypothesized that AMPK-mediated inhibitory effects on mTOR signaling depend on catalytic alpha2 and regulatory gamma3 subunits. Extensor digitorum longus muscle from AMPK alpha2 knockout (KO), AMPK gamma3 KO, and respective wild-type (WT) littermates (C57BL/6) were incubated in the presence of 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-beta-d-ribonucleoside (AICAR), insulin, or AICAR plus insulin. Phosphorylation of AMPK, Akt, and mTOR-associated signaling proteins were assessed. Insulin increased Akt Ser473 phosphorylation (P < 0.01), irrespective of genotype or presence of AICAR. AICAR increased phosphorylation of AMPK Thr172 (P < 0.01) in WT but not KO mice. Insulin stimulation increased phosphorylation of S6K1 (Thr389), ribosomal protein S6 (Ser235/236), and 4E-BP1 (Thr37/46) (P < 0.01) in WT, AMPK alpha2 KO, and AMPK gamma3 KO mice. However, in WT mice, preincubation with AICAR completely inhibited insulin-induced phosphorylation of mTOR targets, suggesting mTOR signaling is blocked by prior AMPK activation. The AICAR-induced inhibition was partly rescued in extensor digitorum longus muscle from either alpha2 or gamma3 AMPK KO mice, indicating functional alpha2 and gamma3 subunits of AMPK are required for the reduction in mTOR signaling. AICAR alone was without effect on basal phosphorylation of S6K1 (Thr389), ribosomal protein S6 (Ser235/236), and 4E-BP1 (Thr37/46). In conclusion, functional alpha2 and gamma3 AMPK subunits are required for AICAR-induced inhibitory effects on mTOR signaling.
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PMID:Role of adenosine 5'-monophosphate-activated protein kinase subunits in skeletal muscle mammalian target of rapamycin signaling. 1827 28

Mutations in the tumor suppressor genes TSC1 and TSC2, encoding hamartin and tuberin, respectively, cause the tumor syndrome tuberous sclerosis with similar phenotypes. Until now, over 50 proteins have been demonstrated to interact with hamartin and/or tuberin. Besides tuberin, the proteins DOCK7, ezrin/radixin/moesin, FIP200, IKKbeta, Melted, Merlin, NADE(p75NTR), NF-L, Plk1 and TBC7 have been found to interact with hamartin. Whereas Plk1 and TBC7 have been demonstrated not to bind to tuberin, for all the other hamartin-interacting proteins the question, whether they can also bind to tuberin, has not been studied. Tuberin interacts with 14-3-3 beta,epsilon,gamma,eta,sigma,tau,zeta, Akt, AMPK, CaM, CRB3/PATJ, cyclin A, cyclins D1, D2, D3, Dsh, ERalpha, Erk, FoxO1, HERC1, HPV16 E6, HSCP-70, HSP70-1, MK2, NEK1, p27KIP1, Pam, PC1, PP2Ac, Rabaptin-5, Rheb, RxRalpha/VDR and SMAD2/3. 14-3-3 beta,epsilon,gamma,eta,sigma,tau,zeta, Akt, Dsh, FoxO1, HERC1, p27KIP1 and PP2Ac are known not to bind to hamartin. For the other tuberin-interacting proteins this question remains elusive. The proteins axin, Cdk1, cyclin B1, GADD34, GSK3, mTOR and RSK1 have been found to co-immunoprecipitate with both, hamartin and tuberin. The kinases Cdk1 and IKKbeta phosphorylate hamartin, Erk, Akt, MK2, AMPK and RSK1 phosphorylate tuberin, and GSK3 phosphorylates both, hamartin and tuberin. This detailed summary of protein interactions allows new insights into their relevance for the wide variety of different functions of hamartin and tuberin.
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PMID:The tuberous sclerosis gene products hamartin and tuberin are multifunctional proteins with a wide spectrum of interacting partners. 1829 11

Skeletal muscle loss during aging leads to an increased risk of falls, fractures, and eventually loss of independence. Resistance exercise is a useful intervention to prevent sarcopenia; however, the muscle protein synthesis (MPS) response to resistance exercise is less in elderly compared with young subjects. On the other hand, essential amino acids (EAA) increase MPS equally in both young and old subjects when sufficient EAA is ingested. We hypothesized that EAA ingestion following a bout of resistance exercise would stimulate anabolic signaling and MPS similarly between young and old men. Each subject ingested 20 g of EAA 1 h following leg resistance exercise. Muscle biopsies were obtained before and 1, 3, and 6 h after exercise to measure the rate of MPS and signaling pathways that regulate translation initiation. MPS increased early in young (1-3 h postexercise) and later in old (3-6 h postexercise). At 1 h postexercise, ERK1/2 MNK1 phosphorylation increased and eIF2alpha phosphorylation decreased only in the young. mTOR signaling (mTOR, S6K1, 4E-BP1, eEF2) was similar between groups at all time points, but MNK1 phosphorylation was lower at 3 h and AMP-activated protein kinase-alpha (AMPKalpha) phosphorylation was higher in old 1-3 h postexercise. We conclude that the acute MPS response after resistance exercise and EAA ingestion is similar between young and old men; however, the response is delayed with aging. Unresponsive ERK1/2 signaling and AMPK activation in old muscle may be playing a role in the delayed activation of MPS. Notwithstanding, the combination of resistance exercise and EAA ingestion should be a useful strategy to combat sarcopenia.
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PMID:Skeletal muscle protein anabolic response to resistance exercise and essential amino acids is delayed with aging. 1832 67

This study was undertaken to interrogate cancer cell survival during long-term hypoxic stress. Two systems with relevance to carcinogenesis were employed: Fully transformed BJ cells and a renal carcinoma cell line (786-0). The dynamic of AMPK activity was consistent with a prosurvival role during chronic hypoxia. This was further supported by the effects of AMPK agonists and antagonists (AICAR and compound C). Expression of a dominant-negative AMPK alpha resulted in a decreased ATP level and significantly compromised survival in hypoxia. Dose-dependent prosurvival effects of rapamycin were consistent with mTOR inhibition being a critical downstream mediator of AMPK in persistent low oxygen.
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PMID:AMP-activated protein kinase is essential for survival in chronic hypoxia. 1835 90

Sustained activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) induces apoptosis in several cell types. In pancreatic beta cells this occurs under glucose limitation, or in the presence of the pharmacological AMPK activator 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-riboside (AICAR). It is unknown whether Akt activation can counteract AMPK-mediated apoptosis, nor whether mTOR activation downstream of Akt mediates any survival signal in these conditions. We report that expression of a constitutively active form of Akt increases mTOR activity and prevents apoptosis upon AMPK activation. Akt-mediated survival was inhibited by rapamycin. Expression of a constitutively active form of the mTOR target ribosomal protein S6 kinase (S6K) or of translation factor eIF4E reduced apoptosis by glucose limitation, and co-expression of S6K and eIF4E protected beta cells to the same extent as active Akt. The protective effects of active Akt and S6K were associated with increased cellular protein synthesis activity. It is concluded that Akt stimulation of mTOR and subsequent activation of the targets by which mTOR affects protein translation are required and sufficient mechanisms for Akt-mediated survival of beta cells undergoing sustained AMPK activation.
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PMID:Akt activation protects pancreatic beta cells from AMPK-mediated death through stimulation of mTOR. 1837 70

The LKB1 tumour suppressor phosphorylates and activates AMPK (AMP-activated protein kinase) when cellular energy levels are low, thereby suppressing growth through multiple pathways, including inhibiting the mTORC1 (mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1) kinase that is activated in the majority of human cancers. Blood glucose-lowering Type 2 diabetes drugs also induce LKB1 to activate AMPK, indicating that these compounds could be used to suppress growth of tumour cells. In the present study, we investigated the importance of the LKB1-AMPK pathway in regulating tumorigenesis in mice resulting from deficiency of the PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome 10) tumour suppressor, which drives cell growth through overactivation of the Akt and mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) kinases. We demonstrate that inhibition of AMPK resulting from a hypomorphic mutation that decreases LKB1 expression does not lead to tumorigenesis on its own, but markedly accelerates tumour development in PTEN(+/-) mice. In contrast, activating the AMPK pathway by administration of metformin, phenformin or A-769662 to PTEN(+/-) mice significantly delayed tumour onset. We demonstrate that LKB1 is required for activators of AMPK to inhibit mTORC1 signalling as well as cell growth in PTEN-deficient cells. Our findings highlight, using an animal model relevant to understanding human cancer, the vital role that the LKB1-AMPK pathway plays in suppressing tumorigenesis resulting from loss of the PTEN tumour suppressor. They also suggest that pharmacological inhibition of LKB1 and/or AMPK would be undesirable, at least for the treatment of cancers in which the mTORC1 pathway is activated. Most importantly, our results demonstrate the potential of AMPK activators, such as clinically approved metformin, as anticancer agents, which will suppress tumour development by triggering a physiological signalling pathway that potently inhibits cell growth.
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PMID:Important role of the LKB1-AMPK pathway in suppressing tumorigenesis in PTEN-deficient mice. 1846 13

AMPK is a highly conserved sensor of cellular energy status that is activated under conditions of low intracellular ATP. AMPK responds to energy stress by suppressing cell growth and biosynthetic processes, in part through its inhibition of the rapamycin-sensitive mTOR (mTORC1) pathway. AMPK phosphorylation of the TSC2 tumor suppressor contributes to suppression of mTORC1; however, TSC2-deficient cells remain responsive to energy stress. Using a proteomic and bioinformatics approach, we sought to identify additional substrates of AMPK that mediate its effects on growth control. We report here that AMPK directly phosphorylates the mTOR binding partner raptor on two well-conserved serine residues, and this phosphorylation induces 14-3-3 binding to raptor. The phosphorylation of raptor by AMPK is required for the inhibition of mTORC1 and cell-cycle arrest induced by energy stress. These findings uncover a conserved effector of AMPK that mediates its role as a metabolic checkpoint coordinating cell growth with energy status.
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PMID:AMPK phosphorylation of raptor mediates a metabolic checkpoint. 1847 72

Autophagy is a highly regulated intracellular process involved in the turnover of most cellular constituents and in the maintenance of cellular homeostasis. It is well-established that the basal autophagic activity of living cells decreases with age, thus contributing to the accumulation of damaged macromolecules during aging. Conversely, the activity of this catabolic pathway is required for lifespan extension in animal models such as Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster. In this work, we describe the unexpected finding that Zmpste24-null mice, which show accelerated aging and are a reliable model of human Hutchinson-Gilford progeria, exhibit an extensive basal activation of autophagy instead of the characteristic decline in this process occurring during normal aging. We also show that this autophagic increase is associated with a series of changes in lipid and glucose metabolic pathways, which resemble those occurring in diverse situations reported to prolong lifespan. These Zmpste24(-/-) mice metabolic alterations are also linked to substantial changes in circulating blood parameters, such as leptin, glucose, insulin or adiponectin which in turn lead to peripheral LKB1-AMPK activation and mTOR inhibition. On the basis of these results, we propose that nuclear abnormalities causing premature aging in Zmpste24(-/-) mice trigger a metabolic response involving the activation of autophagy. However, the chronic activation of this catabolic pathway may turn an originally intended pro-survival strategy into a pro-aging mechanism and could contribute to the systemic degeneration and weakening observed in these progeroid mice.
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PMID:Premature aging in mice activates a systemic metabolic response involving autophagy induction. 1844 1

In a recent issue of Molecular Cell, Gwinn et al. (2008) suggest a novel mechanism by which AMPK signals to mTOR, and they provide new insight into how information about cellular energy status is fed into decisions about cell growth and proliferation.
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PMID:AMPK and Raptor: matching cell growth to energy supply. 1843

The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) assembles a signaling network essential for the regulation of cell growth, which has emerged as a major target of anticancer therapies. The tuberous sclerosis complex 1 and 2 (TSC1/2) proteins and their target, the small GTPase Rheb, constitute a key regulatory pathway upstream of mTOR. Phospholipase D (PLD) and its product phosphatidic acid are also upstream regulators of the mitogenic mTOR signaling. However, how the TSC/Rheb and PLD pathways interact or integrate in the rapamycin-sensitive signaling network has not been examined before. Here, we find that PLD1, but not PLD2, is required for Rheb activation of the mTOR pathway, as demonstrated by the effects of RNAi. The overexpression of Rheb activates PLD1 in cells in the absence of mitogenic stimulation, and the knockdown of Rheb impairs serum stimulation of PLD activation. Furthermore, the overexpression of TSC2 suppresses PLD1 activation, whereas the knockdown or deletion of TSC2 leads to elevated basal activity of PLD. Consistent with a TSC-Rheb-PLD signaling cascade, AMPK and PI3K, both established regulators of TSC2, appear to lie upstream of PLD as revealed by the effects of pharmacological inhibitors, and serum activation of PLD is also dependent on amino acid sufficiency. Finally, Rheb binds and activates PLD1 in vitro in a GTP-dependent manner, strongly suggesting that PLD1 is a bona fide effector for Rheb. Hence, our findings reveal an unexpected interaction between two cascades in the mTOR signaling pathways and open up additional possibilities for targeting this important growth-regulating network for the development of anticancer drugs.
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PMID:Phospholipase D1 is an effector of Rheb in the mTOR pathway. 1855 Aug 14


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