Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P42345 (mTOR)
26,049 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The major function of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is the control of cell growth. Insulin and amino acids regulate the mTOR pathway, and both are needed to promote its maximal activation. To further understand mTOR regulation by insulin and amino acids, we have studied the enzyme in primary cultures of hepatocytes. We show that insulin increases mTOR phosphorylation on Ser2448, a consensus phosphorylation site for protein kinase B (PKB). Ser2448 phosphorylation is also increased by amino acids, although they do not activate PKB. Furthermore, insulin and amino acids have an additive effect, indicating that they act through distinct pathways. We also show that phosphorylation of Ser2448 does not seem to modulate in vitro phosphorylation of eukaryotic initiation factor 4E-binding protein 1 by mTOR. However, stimulation of hepatocytes with insulin and amino acids leads to an increase in mTOR kinase activity. Rapamycin has no effect on insulin-, glucagon-, and 8-(4-chlorophenylthio)adenosine-cAMP-induced amino acid transport. Surprisingly, glucagon and 8-(4-chlorophenylthio)adenosine-cAMP, which do not activate PKB, stimulate the phosphorylation on Ser2448 of mTOR. However, glucagon inhibits amino acid- and insulin-induced activation of ribosomal S6 protein kinase 1 and phosphorylation of the translational repressor eukaryotic initiation factor 4E-binding protein 1. Our results demonstrate that glucagon, which is not able to activate but rather inhibits the mTOR pathways, stimulates the phosphorylation of mTOR on Ser2448. This finding suggests that phosphorylation of this site might not be sufficient for mTOR kinase activity but is likely to be involved in other functions.
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PMID:In rat hepatocytes glucagon increases mammalian target of rapamycin phosphorylation on serine 2448 but antagonizes the phosphorylation of its downstream targets induced by insulin and amino acids. 1529 49

Previous studies have shown that oral administration of leucine to fasted rats results in a preferential increase in liver in the translation of mRNAs containing an oligopyrimidine sequence at the 5'-end of the message (i.e. a TOP sequence). TOP mRNAs include those encoding the ribosomal proteins (rp) and translation elongation factors. In cells in culture, the preponderance of evidence suggests that translation of TOP mRNAs is regulated by the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), a protein kinase that signals through ribosomal protein S6 kinase (S6K1) to rpS6. However, the results of previous studies were recently challenged by several reports suggesting that translation of TOP mRNAs is independent of mTOR, S6K1, and S6 phosphorylation. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the role of mTOR in the stimulation of TOP mRNA translation by leucine in vivo. Fasted rats were treated with the mTOR inhibitor, rapamycin, prior to oral administration of leucine. It was found that rapamycin severely attenuated leucine-induced signaling through mTOR in liver. In addition, rapamycin prevented the enhanced translation of TOP mRNAs in rats administered leucine, as assessed by a decrease in the proportion of TOP mRNAs associated with polysomes (i.e. those mRNAs being actively translated). Instead, in rapamycin-treated rats, ribosomal protein mRNAs accumulated in the fraction containing monosomes (mRNA bound to one ribosome). The results suggest that in liver in vivo, mTOR-dependent signaling is critical for maximal stimulation of TOP mRNA translation.
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PMID:The mTOR signaling pathway mediates control of ribosomal protein mRNA translation in rat liver. 1531 64

Several protein phosphatase-inhibitory toxins (okadaic acid, microcystin, calyculin A, cantharidin, tautomycin) administered to isolated rat hepatocytes were found to induce phosphorylation in the tail region of S6 kinase (S6K; p70S6K1) as detected with a phosphospecific antibody against doubly phosphorylated Thr-421/Ser424. 5-Aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide riboside (AICAR), an adenosine analogue that elicits activation of the hepatocellular AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), similarly stimulated S6K tail phosphorylation. The flavonoid naringin prevented the effects of AICAR, okadaic acid, and microcystin on AMPK activation as well as on S6K tail phosphorylation, suggesting AMPK as a mediator of the latter. The effects of AICAR and the toxins were rapamycin resistant; in contrast, amino acids induced an S6K tail phosphorylation that was rapamycin sensitive, suggesting mediation by the protein kinase mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). Amino acids activated S6K by phosphorylation at Thr-389, but the toxins did not, and AICAR in fact suppressed the activating phosphorylation induced by the amino acids. The possibility thus must be considered that the phosphorylated S6K tail may transmit a toxin-induced signal independently of S6K enzymatic activity. Despite their inability to activate S6K, the toxins (but not AICAR) stimulated phosphorylation of the ribosomal protein S6, presumably by activating some other S6-phosphorylating protein kinase.
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PMID:Toxin-induced tail phosphorylation of hepatocellular S6 kinase: evidence for a dual involvement of the AMP-activated protein kinase in S6 kinase regulation. 1534 61

We have demonstrated that T3 increases the expression of ZAKI-4alpha, an endogenous calcineurin inhibitor. In this study we characterized a T3-dependent signaling cascade leading to ZAKI-4alpha expression in human skin fibroblasts. We found that T3-dependent increase in ZAKI-4alpha was greatly attenuated by rapamycin, a specific inhibitor of a protein kinase, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), suggesting the requirement of mTOR activation by T3. Indeed, T3 activated mTOR rapidly through S2448 phosphorylation, leading to the phosphorylation of p70(S6K), a substrate of mTOR. This mTOR activation is mediated through phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)-Akt/protein kinase B (PKB) signaling cascade because T3 induced Akt/PKB phosphorylation more rapidly than that of mTOR, and these T3-dependent phosphorylations were blocked by both PI3K inhibitors and by expression of a dominant negative PI3K (Deltap85alpha). Furthermore, the association between thyroid hormone receptor beta1 (TRbeta1) and PI3K-regulatory subunit p85alpha, and the inhibition of T3-induced PI3K activation and mTOR phosphorylation by a dominant negative TR (G345R) demonstrated the involvement of TR in this T3 action. The liganded TR induces the activation of PI3K and Akt/PKB, leading to the nuclear translocation of the latter, which subsequently phosphorylates nuclear mTOR. The rapid activation of PI3K-Akt/PKB-mTOR-p70(S6K) cascade by T3 provides a new molecular mechanism for thyroid hormone action.
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PMID:Thyroid hormone induces rapid activation of Akt/protein kinase B-mammalian target of rapamycin-p70S6K cascade through phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase in human fibroblasts. 1538 91

We detected a protein in rabbit skeletal muscle extracts that was phosphorylated rapidly by PKBa (protein kinase Ba), but not by SGK1 (serum- and glucocorticoid-induced kinase 1), and identified it as the cytoskeletal protein FLNc (filamin C). PKBa phosphorylated FLNc at Ser2213 in vitro, which lies in an insert not present in the FLNa and FLNb isoforms. Ser2213 became phosphorylated when C2C12 myoblasts were stimulated with insulin or epidermal growth factor, and phosphorylation was prevented by low concentrations of wortmannin, at which it is a relatively specific inhibitor of phosphoinositide 3-kinase. PD 184352 [an inhibitor of the classical MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) cascade] and/or rapamycin [an inhibitor of mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin)] had no effect. Insulin also induced the phosphorylation of FLNc at Ser2213 in cardiac muscle in vivo, but not in cardiac muscle that does not express PDK1 (3-phosphoinositide-dependent kinase 1), the upstream activator of PKB. These results identify the muscle-specific isoform FLNc as a new physiological substrate for PKB.
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PMID:Identification of filamin C as a new physiological substrate of PKBalpha using KESTREL. 1546 88

The target of rapamycin (TOR) is a highly conserved protein kinase and a central controller of cell growth. In budding yeast, TOR is found in structurally and functionally distinct protein complexes: TORC1 and TORC2. A mammalian counterpart of TORC1 (mTORC1) has been described, but it is not known whether TORC2 is conserved in mammals. Here, we report that a mammalian counterpart of TORC2 (mTORC2) also exists. mTORC2 contains mTOR, mLST8 and mAVO3, but not raptor. Like yeast TORC2, mTORC2 is rapamycin insensitive and seems to function upstream of Rho GTPases to regulate the actin cytoskeleton. mTORC2 is not upstream of the mTORC1 effector S6K. Thus, two distinct TOR complexes constitute a primordial signalling network conserved in eukaryotic evolution to control the fundamental process of cell growth.
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PMID:Mammalian TOR complex 2 controls the actin cytoskeleton and is rapamycin insensitive. 1546 18

The opposing actions of glucagon and insulin on glucose metabolism within the liver are essential mechanisms for maintaining plasma glucose concentrations within narrow limits. Less well studied are the counterregulatory actions of glucagon on protein metabolism. In the present study, the effect of glucagon on amino acid-induced signaling through the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), an important controller of the mRNA binding step in translation initiation, was examined using the perfused rat liver as an experimental model. The results show that amino acids enhance signaling through mTOR resulting in phosphorylation of eukaryotic initiation factor 4E-binding protein (4E-BP)1, the 70-kDa ribosomal protein (rp)S6 kinase, S6K1, and rpS6. In contrast, glucagon repressed both basal and amino acid-induced signaling through mTOR, as assessed by changes in the phosphorylation of 4E-BP1 and S6K1. The repression was associated with the activation of protein kinase A and enhanced phosphorylation of LKB1 and the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). Surprisingly, the phosphorylation of two S6K1 substrates, rpS6 and eukaryotic initiation factor 4B, was not repressed but instead was increased by glucagon treatment, regardless of the amino acid concentration. The latter finding could be explained by the glucagon-induced phosphorylation of the ERK1 and the 90-kDa rpS6 kinase p90(rsk). Thus, glucagon represses phosphorylation of 4E-BP1 and S6K1 through the activation of a protein kinase A-LKB-AMPK-mTOR signaling pathway, while simultaneously enhancing phosphorylation of other downstream effectors of mTOR through the activation of the extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 1-p90(rsk) signaling pathway. Amino acids also enhance AMPK phosphorylation, although to a lesser extent than glucagon and amino acids combined.
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PMID:Glucagon represses signaling through the mammalian target of rapamycin in rat liver by activating AMP-activated protein kinase. 1549 2

Interactions between the Chk1 inhibitor UCN-01 and the farnesyltransferase inhibitor L744832 were examined in human leukemia cells. Combined exposure of U937 cells to subtoxic concentrations of UCN-01 and L744832 resulted in a dramatic increase in mitochondrial dysfunction, apoptosis, and loss of clonogenicity. Similar interactions were noted in other leukemia cells (HL-60, Raji, Jurkat) and primary acute myeloid leukemia (AML) blasts. Coadministration of L744832 blocked UCN-01-mediated phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MEK/ERK), leading to down-regulation of phospho-cyclic adenosine monophosphate responsive element-binding protein (phospho-CREB) and -p90(RSK) and activation of p34(cdc2) and stress-activated protein kinase/ERK kinase/c-Jun N-terminal kinase (SEK/JNK). Combined treatment also resulted in pronounced reductions in levels of phospho-Akt, -glycogen synthase kinase-3 (-GSK-3), -p70(S6K), -mammalian target of rapamycin (-mTOR), -forkhead transcription factor (-FKHR), -caspase-9, and -Bad. Ectopic expression of Bcl-2 or Bcl-xL but not dominant-negative caspase-8 blocked UCN-01/L744832-mediated mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis but did not prevent activation of p34(cdc2) and JNK or inactivation of MEK/ERK and Akt. Enforced expression of myristoylated Akt but not constitutively active MEK significantly attenuated UCN-01/L744832-induced apoptosis. However, dual transfection with Akt and MEK resulted in further protection from UCN-01/L744832-mediated lethality. Finally, down-regulation of JNK1 by siRNA significantly reduced the lethality of the UCN-01/L744832 regimen. Together, these findings suggest that farnesyltransferase inhibitors interrupt the cytoprotective Akt and MAPK pathways while reciprocally activating SAPK/JNK in leukemia cells exposed to UCN-01 and, in so doing, dramatically increase mitochondria-dependent apoptosis.
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PMID:Farnesyltransferase inhibitors interact synergistically with the Chk1 inhibitor UCN-01 to induce apoptosis in human leukemia cells through interruption of both Akt and MEK/ERK pathways and activation of SEK1/JNK. 1549 23

The aberrant behavior of cancer reflects upregulation of certain oncogenic signaling pathways that promote proliferation, inhibit apoptosis, and enable the cancer to spread and evoke angiogenesis. Theoretically, it should be feasible to decrease the activity of these pathways-or increase the activity of pathways that oppose them-with noncytotoxic agents. Since multiple pathways are dysfunctional in most cancers, and cancers accumulate new oncogenic mutations as they progress, the greatest and most durable therapeutic benefit will likely be achieved with combination regimens that address several targets. Thus, a multifocal signal modulation therapy (MSMT) of cancer is proposed. This concept has already been documented by researchers who have shown that certain combinations of signal modulators-of limited utility when administered individually-can achieve dramatic suppression of tumor growth in rodent xenograft models. The present essay attempts to guide development of MSMTs for prostate cancer. Androgen ablation is a signal-modulating measure already in standard use in the management of delocalized prostate cancer. The additional molecular targets considered here include the type 1 insulin-like growth factor receptor, the epidermal growth factor receptor, mammalian target of rapamycin, NF-kappaB, hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha, hsp90, cyclooxygenase-2, protein kinase A type I, vascular endothelial growth factor, 5-lipoxygenase, 12-lipoxygenase, angiotensin II receptor type 1, bradykinin receptor type 1, c-Src, interleukin-6, ras, MDM2, bcl-2/bclxL, vitamin D receptor, estrogen receptor-beta, and PPAR-. Various nutrients and phytochemicals suspected to have potential utility in prostate cancer prevention and therapy, but whose key molecular targets are still unknown, might reasonably be incorporated into MSMTs for prostate cancer; these include lycopene, selenium, green tea polyphenols, genistein, and silibinin. MSMTs can be developed systematically by testing various combinations of signal-modulating agents, in concentrations that can feasibly be achieved and maintained clinically, on human prostate cancer cell lines; combinations that appear promising can then be tested in xenograft models and, ultimately, in the clinic. Some signal modulators can increase response to cytotoxic drugs by upregulating effectors of apoptosis. When MSMTs fail to raise the spontaneous apoptosis rate sufficiently to achieve tumor stasis or regression, incorporation of appropriate cytotoxic agents into the regimen may improve the clinical outcome.
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PMID:Targeting multiple signaling pathways as a strategy for managing prostate cancer: multifocal signal modulation therapy. 1552 6

Akt, also known as protein kinase B, is a serine/threonine protein kinase with antiapoptotic activities; also, it is a downstream target of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase. Here we show that Akt1/Akt2 play a critical role in osteoclast differentiation but not cell survival and that mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and Bim, a pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family member, are required for cell survival in isolated osteoclast precursors. To investigate the function of Akt1, Akt2, mTOR, and Bim, we employed a retroviral system for delivery of small interfering RNA into cells. Loss of Akt1 and/or Akt2 protein inhibited osteoclast differentiation due to down-regulation of IkappaB-kinase (IKK) alpha/beta activity, phosphorylation of IkappaB-alpha, nuclear translocation of nuclear factor-kappaB (NFkappaB) p50, and NFkappaB p50 DNA-binding activity. Surprisingly, deletion of Akt1 and/or Akt2 protein did not stimulate cleaved caspase-3 activity and failed to promote apoptosis. Conversely, loss of mTOR protein induced apoptosis due to up-regulation of cleaved caspase-3 activity. In addition, we found that mTOR is downstream of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (but not Akt) and that macrophage colony-stimulating factor regulates Bim expression through mTOR activation for cell survival. These results demonstrate that Akt1/Akt2 are key elements in osteoclast differentiation and that the macrophage colony-stimulating factor stimulation of mTOR leading to Bim inhibition is essential for cell survival in isolated osteoclast precursors.
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PMID:Akt1/Akt2 and mammalian target of rapamycin/Bim play critical roles in osteoclast differentiation and survival, respectively, whereas Akt is dispensable for cell survival in isolated osteoclast precursors. 1554 69


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