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)

Here, we demonstrated that inhibition of mTOR with rapamycin has negative effects on adipocyte differentiation and insulin signaling. Rapamycin significantly reduced expression of most adipocyte marker genes including PPARgamma, adipsin, aP2, ADD1/SREBP1c, and FAS, and decreased intracellular lipid accumulation in 3T3-L1 and 3T3-F442A cells, suggesting that rapamycin would affect both lipogenesis and adipogenesis. Contrary to the previous report that suppressive effect of rapamycin on adipogenesis is limited to the clonal expansion, we revealed that its inhibitory effect persisted throughout the process of adipocyte differentiation. Thus, it is likely that constitutive activation of mTOR might be required for the execution of adipogenic programming. In differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes, chronic treatment of rapamycin blunted the phosphorylation of AKT and GSK, which is stimulated by insulin, and reduced insulin-dependent glucose uptake activity. Taken together, these results suggest that rapamycin not only prevents adipocyte differentiation by decrease of adipogenesis and lipogenesis but also downregulates insulin action in adipocytes, implying that mTOR would play important roles in adipogenesis and insulin action.
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PMID:Regulation of adipocyte differentiation and insulin action with rapamycin. 1535 18

In pancreatic beta-cells, glucose causes a rapid increase in the rate of protein synthesis. However, the mechanism by which this occurs is poorly understood. In this report, we demonstrate, in the pancreatic beta-cell line MIN6, that glucose stimulates the recruitment of ribosomes onto the mRNA, indicative of an increase in the rate of the initiation step of protein synthesis. This increase in the rate of initiation is not mediated through an increase in the availability of the initiation complex eIF4F, because glucose is unable to stimulate eIF4F assembly or, in the absence of amino acids, modulate the phosphorylation status of 4E-BP1. Moreover, in MIN6 cells and isolated islets of Langerhans, rapamycin, an inhibitor of the mammalian target of rapamycin, only partially inhibited glucose-stimulated protein synthesis. However, we show that glucose stimulates the dephosphorylation of eIF2 alpha in MIN6 cells and the assembly of the translational ternary complex, eIF2-GTP.Met-tRNAi, in both MIN6 cells and islets of Langerhans. The changes in the phosphorylation of eIF2 alpha are not mediated by the PKR-like endoplasmic reticulum eIF2 alpha kinase (PERK), because PERK is not phosphorylated at low glucose concentrations and overexpression of a dominant negative form of PERK has no significant effect on either glucose-stimulated protein synthesis or the phosphorylation of eIF2 alpha. Taken together, these results indicate that glucose-stimulated protein synthesis in pancreatic beta-cells is regulated by a mechanism largely independent of the activity of mammalian target of rapamycin, but which is likely to be dependent on the availability of the translational ternary complex, regulated by the phosphorylation status of eIF2 alpha.
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PMID:Glucose-stimulated protein synthesis in pancreatic beta-cells parallels an increase in the availability of the translational ternary complex (eIF2-GTP.Met-tRNAi) and the dephosphorylation of eIF2 alpha. 1547 56

Amino acids are nutrients responsible for mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) regulation in mammalian cells. The mTOR protein is mainly known for its role in regulating cell growth, notably via protein synthesis. In addition to amino acids, mTOR is regulated by insulin via a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase)-dependent pathway. mTOR mediates crosstalk between amino acids and insulin signaling. We show that in freshly isolated rat adipocytes, insulin stimulates the phosphorylation of mTOR on serine 2448, a protein kinase B (PKB) consensus phosphorylation site. This site is also phosphorylated by amino acids, which in contrast to insulin do not activate PKB. Moreover, insulin and amino acids have an additive effect on mTOR phosphorylation, indicating that they act via two independent pathways. Importantly, amino acids, notably leucine, permit insulin to stimulate PKB when PI 3-kinase is inhibited. They also rescue glucose transport and the mTOR pathway. Further, leucine alone can improve insulin activation of PKB in db/db mice. Our results define the importance of amino acids in insulin signaling and reveal leucine as a key amino acid in disease situations associated with insulin-resistance in adipocytes.
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PMID:Amino acids and leucine allow insulin activation of the PKB/mTOR pathway in normal adipocytes treated with wortmannin and in adipocytes from db/db mice. 1547 67

BCR-ABL oncoprotein-expressing cells are associated with a relative increase of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), which is thought to play a role in transformation. Elevated ROS levels in BCR-ABL-transformed cells were found to be blocked by the mitochondrial complex I inhibitor rotenone as well as the glucose transport inhibitor phloretin, suggesting that the source of increased ROS might be related to increased glucose metabolism. The glucose analog 2-deoxyglucose (2-DOG) reduced ROS to levels found in non-BCR-ABL-transformed cells and inhibited cell growth alone or in cooperation with imatinib mesylate (Gleevec). A mutant of BCR-ABL that is defective in transformation of myeloid cells, Tyr177Phe, was also found to be defective in raising intracellular ROS levels. Glucose metabolism in BCR-ABL-transformed cells is likely to be mediated by activation of the phosphatidylinositol-3'-kinase (PI3K) pathway, which is regulated through this site. Inhibition of PI3K or mTOR led to a significant decrease in ROS levels. Overall, our results suggest that elevated levels of ROS in BCR-ABL-transformed cells are secondary to a transformation-associated increase in glucose metabolism and an overactive mitochondrial electron transport chain and is specifically regulated by PI3K. Finally, these results hint at novel targets for drug development that may aid traditional therapy.
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PMID:Activation of the PI3K/mTOR pathway by BCR-ABL contributes to increased production of reactive oxygen species. 1548 67

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

Regulation of insulin receptor substrate (IRS)-2 expression is critical to beta-cell survival, but the mechanisms that control this are complex and undefined. Here in pancreatic beta-cells (INS-1), chronic exposure (>8 h) to 15 mm glucose and/or 5 nm IGF-1, increased Ser/Thr phosphorylation of IRS-2, which correlated with decreased IRS-2 levels. This glucose/IGF-1-induced decrease in IRS-2 levels was prevented by the proteasomal inhibitor, lactacystin. In addition, the glucose/IGF-1-induced increase in Ser/Thr phosphorylation of IRS-2 and the subsequent decrease in INS-1 cell IRS-2 protein levels was thwarted by the mammalian target of rapamycin(mTOR) inhibitor, rapamycin. Moreover, adenoviral-mediated expression of constitutively active mTOR (mTORDelta) further increased glucose/IGF-1-induced Ser/Thr phosphorylation of IRS-2 and decreased IRS-2 protein levels, whereas adenoviral-mediated expression of "kinase-dead" mTOR (mTOR-KD) conversely reduced Ser/Thr phosphorylation of IRS-2 and maintained IRS-2 protein levels. In adenoviral-infected beta-cells expressing mTORDelta, the decrease in IRS-2 protein levels was also prevented by rapamycin or lactacystin, further indicating a proteasomal mediated degradation of IRS-2 mediated via mTOR-induced Ser/Thr phosphorylation of IRS-2. Finally, we found that chronic activation of mTOR leading to decreased levels of IRS-2 in INS-1 cells led to a significant decrease in PKB activation and consequently increased beta-cell apoptosis. Thus, chronic activation of mTOR by glucose (and/or IGF-1) in beta-cells leads to increased Ser/Thr phosphorylation of IRS-2 that targets it for proteasomal degradation, resulting in decreased IRS-2 expression and increased beta-cell apoptosis. This may be a contributing mechanism as to how beta-cell mass is decreased by chronic hyperglycemia in the pathogenesis of type-2 diabetes.
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PMID:Insulin receptor substrate-2 proteasomal degradation mediated by a mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)-induced negative feedback down-regulates protein kinase B-mediated signaling pathway in beta-cells. 1553 54

Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a protein kinase that integrates signals from mitogens and the nutrients, glucose and amino acids, to regulate cellular growth and proliferation. Previous findings demonstrated that glucose robustly activates mTOR in an amino acid-dependent manner in rodent and human islets. Furthermore, activation of mTOR by glucose significantly increases rodent islet DNA synthesis that is abolished by rapamycin. Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonists, through the production of cAMP, have been shown to enhance glucose-dependent proinsulin biosynthesis and secretion and to stimulate cellular growth and proliferation. The objective of this study was to determine if the glucose-dependent and cAMP-mediated mechanism by which GLP-1 agonists enhance beta-cell growth and proliferation is mediated, in part, through mTOR. Our studies demonstrated that forskolin-generated cAMP resulted in activation of mTOR at basal glucose concentrations as assessed by phosphorylation of S6K1, a downstream effector of mTOR. Conversely, an adenylyl cyclase inhibitor partially blocked glucose-induced S6K1 phosphorylation. Furthermore, the GLP-1 receptor agonist, Exenatide, dose-dependently enhanced phosphorylation of S6K1 at an intermediate glucose concentration (8 mmol/l) in a rapamycin-sensitive manner. To determine the mechanism responsible for this potentiation of mTOR, the effects of intra- and extracellular Ca2+ were examined. Glyburide, an inhibitor of ATP-sensitive K+ channels (K(ATP) channels), provided partial activation of mTOR at basal glucose concentrations due to the influx of extracellular Ca2+, and diazoxide, an activator of KATP channels, resulted in partial inhibition of S6K1 phosphorylation by 20 mmol/l glucose. Furthermore, Exenatide or forskolin reversed the inhibition by diazoxide, probably through mobilization of intracellular Ca2+ stores by cAMP. BAPTA, a chelator of intracellular Ca2+, resulted in inhibition of glucose-stimulated S6K1 phosphorylation due to a reduction in cytosolic Ca2+ concentrations. Selective blockade of glucose-stimulated Ca2+ influx unmasked a protein kinase A (PKA)-sensitive component involved in the mobilization of intracellular Ca2+ stores, as revealed with the PKA inhibitor H-89. Overall, these studies support our hypothesis that incretin-derived cAMP participates in the metabolic activation of mTOR by mobilizing intracellular Ca2+ stores that upregulate mitochondrial dehydrogenases and result in enhanced ATP production. ATP can then modulate KATP channels, serve as a substrate for adenylyl cyclase, and possibly directly regulate mTOR activation.
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PMID:Signaling elements involved in the metabolic regulation of mTOR by nutrients, incretins, and growth factors in islets. 1556 16

The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway has recently emerged as a chronic modulator of insulin-mediated glucose metabolism. In this study, we evaluated the involvement of this pathway in the acute regulation of insulin action in both 3T3-L1 and human adipocytes. Insulin rapidly (t(1/2) = 5 min) stimulated the mTOR pathway, as reflected by a 10-fold stimulation of 70-kDa ribosomal S6 kinase 1 (S6K1) activity in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Inhibition of mTOR/S6K1 by rapamycin increased insulin-stimulated glucose transport by as much as 45% in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Activation of mTOR/S6K1 by insulin was associated with a rapamycin-sensitive increase in Ser636/639 phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate (IRS)-1 but, surprisingly, did not result in impaired IRS-1-associated phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase activity. However, insulin-induced activation of Akt was increased by rapamycin. Insulin also activated S6K1 and increased phosphorylation of IRS-1 on Ser636/639 in human adipocytes. As in murine cells, rapamycin treatment of human adipocytes inhibited S6K1, blunted Ser636/639 phosphorylation of IRS-1, leading to increased Akt activation and glucose uptake by insulin. Further studies in 3T3-L1 adipocytes revealed that rapamycin prevented the relocalization of IRS-1 from the low-density membranes to the cytosol in response to insulin. Furthermore, inhibition of mTOR markedly potentiated the ability of insulin to increase PI 3,4,5-triphosphate levels concomitantly with an increased phosphorylation of Akt at the plasma membrane, low-density membranes, and cytosol. However, neither GLUT4 nor GLUT1 translocation induced by insulin were increased by rapamycin treatment. Taken together, these results indicate that the mTOR pathway is an important modulator of the signals involved in the acute regulation of insulin-stimulated glucose transport in 3T3-L1 and human adipocytes.
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PMID:Activation of the mammalian target of rapamycin pathway acutely inhibits insulin signaling to Akt and glucose transport in 3T3-L1 and human adipocytes. 1557 63

It is well established that impaired glucose metabolism is a frequent complication in patients with hepatic cirrhosis. We previously showed that leucine, one of the branched-chain amino acids (BCAA), promotes glucose uptake under insulin-free conditions in isolated skeletal muscle from normal rats. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of BCAA on glucose metabolism in a rat model of CCl(4)-induced cirrhosis (CCl(4) rats). Oral glucose tolerance tests were performed on BCAA-treated CCl(4) rats. In the CCl(4) rats, treatment with leucine or isoleucine, but not valine, improved glucose tolerance significantly, with the effect of isoleucine being greater than the effect of leucine. Glucose uptake experiments using isolated soleus muscle from the CCl(4) rats revealed that leucine and isoleucine, but not valine, promoted glucose uptake under insulin-free conditions. To clarify the mechanism of the blood glucose-lowering effects of BCAA, we collected soleus muscles from BCAA-treated CCl(4) rats with or without a glucose load. These samples were used to determine the subcellular location of glucose transporter proteins and glycogen synthase (GS) activity. Oral administration of leucine or isoleucine without a glucose load induced GLUT4 and GLUT1 translocation to the plasma membrane. GS activity was augmented only in leucine-treated rats and was completely inhibited by rapamycin, an inhibitor of mammalian target of rapamycin. In summary, we found that leucine and isoleucine improved glucose metabolism in CCl(4) rats by promoting glucose uptake in skeletal muscle. This effect occurred as a result of upregulation of GLUT4 and GLUT1 and also by mammalian target of rapamycin-dependent activation of GS in skeletal muscle. From these results, we consider that BCAA treatment may have beneficial effects on glucose metabolism in cirrhotic patients.
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PMID:Branched-chain amino acids improve glucose metabolism in rats with liver cirrhosis. 1559 Nov 58

LIVACT granules, which is a branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) preparation, was developed for the purpose of improving hypoalbuminemia in patients with uncompensated liver cirrhosis in Japan. Recent clinical studies have shown that BCAA supplementation not only improves hypoalbuminemia, but also reduces the occurrence frequency of various complications of liver cirrhosis, which considerably affect mortality. In order to comprehend the significance of BCAA supplementation in patients with liver cirrhosis and to suggest better treatments, we conducted basic non-clinical studies mainly using animal models, clarified the molecular mechanism of the curative effect on hypoalbuminemia and emphasized the importance of mTOR signal transduction. Moreover, we found a new pharmacological action of BCAA, which improves glucose metabolism in skeletal muscles.
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PMID:Pharmacological activities of branched-chain amino acids: augmentation of albumin synthesis in liver and improvement of glucose metabolism in skeletal muscle. 1560 34


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