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Query: UNIPROT:P42345 (mTOR)
 26,049 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Leucine, glutamine, and tyrosine, three amino acids playing key modulatory roles in hepatic proteolysis, were evaluated for activation of signaling pathways involved in regulation of liver protein synthesis. Furthermore, because leucine signals to effectors that lie distal to the mammalian target of rapamycin, these downstream factors were selected for study as candidate mediators of amino acid signaling. Using the perfused rat liver as a model system, we observed a 25% stimulation of protein synthesis in response to balanced hyperaminoacidemia, whereas amino acid imbalance due to elevated concentrations of leucine, glutamine, and tyrosine resulted in a protein synthetic depression of roughly 50% compared with normoaminoacidemic controls. The reduction in protein synthesis accompanying amino acid imbalance became manifest at high physiologic concentrations and was dictated by the guanine nucleotide exchange activity of translation initiation factor eIF2B. Paradoxically, this phenomenon occurred concomitantly with assembly of the mRNA cap recognition complex, eIF4F as well as activation of the 70-kDa ribosomal S6 kinase, p70(S6k). Dual and reciprocal modulation of eIF4F and eIF2B was leucine-specific because isoleucine, a structural analog, was ineffective in these regards. Thus, we conclude that amino acid imbalance, heralded by leucine, initiates a liver-specific translational fail-safe mechanism that deters protein synthesis under unfavorable circumstances despite promotion of the eIF4F complex.
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PMID:Leucine, glutamine, and tyrosine reciprocally modulate the translation initiation factors eIF4F and eIF2B in perfused rat liver. 1059 1

Recent findings have demonstrated that the branched-chain amino acid leucine can activate the translational regulators, phosphorylated heat- and acid-stable protein regulated by insulin (PHAS-I) and p70 S6 kinase (p70S6k), in an insulin-independent and rapamycin-sensitive manner through mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), although the mechanism for this activation is undefined. It has been previously established that leucine-induced insulin secretion by beta-cells involves increased mitochondrial metabolism by oxidative decarboxylation and allosteric activation of glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH). We now show that these same intramitochondrial events that generate signals for leucine-induced insulin exocytosis are required to activate the mTOR mitogenic signaling pathway by beta-cells. Thus, a minimal model consisting of leucine and glutamine as substrates for oxidative decarboxylation and an activator of GDH, respectively, confirmed the requirement for these two metabolic components and mimicked closely the synergistic interactions achieved by a complete complement of amino acids to activate p70s6k in a rapamycin-sensitive manner. Studies using various leucine analogs also confirmed the close association of mitochondrial metabolism and the ability of leucine analogs to activate p70s6k. Furthermore, selective inhibitors of mitochondrial function blocked this activation in a reversible manner, which was not associated with a global reduction in ATP levels. These findings indicate that leucine at physiological concentrations stimulates p70s6k phosphorylation via the mTOR pathway, in part, by serving both as a mitochondrial fuel and an allosteric activator of GDH. Leucine-mediated activation of protein translation through mTOR may contribute to enhanced beta-cell function by stimulating growth-related protein synthesis and proliferation associated with the maintenance of beta-cell mass.
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PMID:Metabolic regulation by leucine of translation initiation through the mTOR-signaling pathway by pancreatic beta-cells. 1127 47

Adipose tissue is a major site for whole-body glutamine synthesis and we are investigating mechanisms and regulation of glutamine transport across the adipocyte membrane. Glutamine transport in adipocytes includes both high- and low-affinity Na+-dependent components (consistent with observed expression of ASCT2 and ATA2/SAT2 transporter mRNAs respectively) and a Na+-independent transport component (consistent with observed expression of LAT1/2 transporter mRNAs). Hypo-osmotic (235 mosmol/kg) swelling of adipocytes transiently stimulated glutamine uptake (180% increase at 0.05 mM glutamine) within 5 mins. Stimulation was blocked by the tyrosine kinase inhibitor genistein and the MAP kinase pathway inhibitors PD98059 and SB203580, but not by wortmannin (PI 3-kinase inhibitor) or rapamycin (mTOR pathway inhibitor). Cell-swelling also stimulated uptake of glucose but not MeAIB (indicating that ASCT2 rather than ATA2 was stimulated by swelling). Insulin (66 nM) treatment for up to 1 h stimulated Na+-dependent glutamine transport and increased adipocyte water space. Activation of the ERK1-2 MAP kinase pathway by cell swelling or insulin may be important for rapid activation of the ASCT2 glutamine transporter in adipocytes. Insulin may also exert a minor additional stimulatory effect on adipocyte glutamine transport indirectly via cell swelling. The mechanisms regulating glutamine transport in adipose tissue are distinct from those in other major sites of glutamine turnover in the body (notably liver and skeletal muscle).
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PMID:Mechanisms of glutamine transport in rat adipocytes and acute regulation by cell swelling. 1168 15

Control of protein synthesis by amino acid availability is an active and centrally important area of research that has produced several recent advances in our understanding of how these substrates serve not only as precursors but also as signaling molecules. One particularly noteworthy advance is the identification of the unique specificity of leucine in signaling to stimulate protein synthesis in skeletal muscle. Leucine mediated signaling results in a stimulation of initiation of mRNA translation and involves increases in the phosphorylation status of the translational repression 4E-BP1 and the ribosomal protein S6 kinase S6K1. It requires sustained activation of the mammalian target of rapamycin protein kinase. Leucine, however, also signals to stimulate protein synthesis in skeletal muscle by a mammalian target of rapamycin protein kinase independent (i.e. rapamycin insensitive) pathway, suggesting that the amino acid may signal through multiple pathways. Furthermore, leucine signaling in skeletal muscle differs from that in liver, suggesting that various responses may be tissue specific. Finally, there continues to be active research on the beneficial effects of glutamine as a unique supplement in catabolic circumstances. In this case, however, the signaling properties and mechanism of action of glutamine remain as an unsolved mystery.
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PMID:Control of protein synthesis by amino acid availability. 1179 Sep 48

RAFT1/FRAP/mTOR is a key regulator of cell growth and division and the mammalian target of rapamycin, an immunosuppressive and anticancer drug. Rapamycin deprivation and nutrient deprivation have similar effects on the activity of S6 kinase 1 (S6K1) and 4E-BP1, two downstream effectors of RAFT1, but the relationship between nutrient- and rapamycin-sensitive pathways is unknown. Using transcriptional profiling, we show that, in human BJAB B-lymphoma cells and murine CTLL-2 T lymphocytes, rapamycin treatment affects the expression of many genes involved in nutrient and protein metabolism. The rapamycin-induced transcriptional profile is distinct from those induced by glucose, glutamine, or leucine deprivation but is most similar to that induced by amino acid deprivation. In particular, rapamycin treatment and amino acid deprivation up-regulate genes involved in nutrient catabolism and energy production and down-regulate genes participating in lipid and nucleotide synthesis and in protein synthesis, turnover, and folding. Surprisingly, however, rapamycin had effects opposite from those of amino acid starvation on the expression of a large group of genes involved in the synthesis, transport, and use of amino acids. Supported by measurements of nutrient use, the data suggest that RAFT1 is an energy and nutrient sensor and that rapamycin mimics a signal generated by the starvation of amino acids but that the signal is unlikely to be the absence of amino acids themselves. These observations underscore the importance of metabolism in controlling lymphocyte proliferation and offer a novel explanation for immunosuppression by rapamycin.
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PMID:The immunosuppressant rapamycin mimics a starvation-like signal distinct from amino acid and glucose deprivation. 1210 Dec 49

Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a serine and threonine protein kinase that regulates numerous cellular functions, in particular, the initiation of protein translation. mTOR-mediated phosphorylation of both the translational repressor eukaryotic initiation factor 4E binding protein-1 and p70 S6 kinase are early events that control the translation initiation process. Rapamycin, an inhibitor of mTOR, is a potent immunosuppressant due, in part, to its ability to interfere with T-cell activation at the level of translation, and it has gained a prominent role in preventing the development and progression of rejection in pancreatic islet transplant recipients. The characterization of the insulin signaling cascade that modulates mTOR in insulin-sensitive tissues has been a major focus of investigation. Recently, the ability of nutrients, in particular the branched-chain amino acid leucine, to activate mTOR independent of insulin by a process designated as nutrient signaling has been identified. The beta-cell expresses components of the insulin signaling cascade and utilizes the metabolism of nutrients to affect insulin secretion. These combined transduction processes make the beta-cell an unique cell to study metabolic and autocrine regulation of mTOR signaling. Our studies have described the ability of insulin and IGFs in concert with the nutrients leucine, glutamine, and glucose to modulate protein translation through mTOR in beta-cells. These findings suggest that mitochondria-derived factors, ATP in particular, may be responsible for nutrient signaling. The significance of these findings is that the optimization of mitochondrial function is not only important for insulin secretion but may significantly impact the growth and proliferation of beta-cells through these mTOR signaling pathways.
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PMID:Metabolic and autocrine regulation of the mammalian target of rapamycin by pancreatic beta-cells. 1235 22

The addition of glutamine as a major nutrient to cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes produced an increase in myocyte size and the organization of actin into myofibrillar arrays. The cellular response was associated with increased abundance of the mRNAs encoding the contractile proteins, alpha-myosin heavy chain and cardiac alpha-actin, and the metabolic enzymes, muscle carnitine palmitoyl transferase I and muscle adenylosuccinate synthetase (ADSS1). Adss1 gene expression was induced approximately 5-fold in glutamine-treated rat neonatal cardiac myocytes. The induction was mediated through the protein kinase A and mammalian target of rapamycin signaling pathways and required a cyclic AMP response element associated with the promoter region of the Adss1 gene. These results highlight glutamine as a major nutrient regulator of cardiac gene expression and identify protein kinase A and mammalian target of rapamycin signaling pathways as mediators of the cardiomyocyte transcriptional response.
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PMID:Mammalian target of rapamycin and protein kinase A signaling mediate the cardiac transcriptional response to glutamine. 1252 36

Proteolysis, as well as protein synthesis, is a major process that contributes to the body protein turnover. Despite the huge variety of proteases in the body, there are very few proteolytic systems contributing to the complete hydrolysis of proteins to amino acids. The autophagic-lysosomal pathway is responsible for bulk proteolysis, whereas the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway plays a significant role in the fine control of the degradation of specific proteins. Both systems can produce free amino acids as a final product, but only the autophagy system is physiologically controlled by plasma amino acids. Recently, the study of amino acids as regulators of macromolecular turnover has been focused on for their signal transduction mechanism. In autophagic proteolysis, several amino acids have a direct regulatory potential: Leu, Gln, Tyr, Phe, Pro, Met, Trp and His in the liver, and Leu in the skeletal muscle. These amino acids are recognized at the plasma membrane, indicating the possible existence of an amino acid receptor/sensor for their recognition and subsequent intracellular signaling. Another line of evidence has emerged that protein kinase cascades such as mTOR, Erk, eIF2alpha etc. may be involved in the regulation of autophagy, and that amino acids, in combination with insulin, may exert their effects through these pathways. From the viewpoint of amino acid safety, the contribution of proteolysis to possible adverse effects caused by excessive amino acid intake is not clear. At present, there is one report that excess glutamine at 10-fold the plasma level has an abnormal inhibitory effect on hepatic proteolysis, due to a lysosomotropic toxicity of ammonia derived from glutamine degradation. Whether this may lead to an adverse effect in humans remains to be clarified.
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PMID:Amino acids as regulators of proteolysis. 1277 64

Amino acids, especially branched-chain amino acids such as l-leucine, have been shown to regulate activation of p70 S6 kinase and phosphorylation of 4E-BP1 through the mTOR signaling pathway. In our recent study, l-arginine was also shown to activate the mTOR signaling pathway in rat intestinal epithelial cells. l-Glutamine is an amino acid that is required for culturing of numerous cell types, including rat intestinal epithelial cells. In this study, we showed that l-glutamine inhibited the activation of p70 S6 kinase and phosphorylation of 4E-BP1 induced by arginine or leucine in rat intestinal epithelial cells. Although the molecular mechanism of l-glutamine-induced inhibition of the mTOR signaling pathway is still unknown, the presence of this novel signal pathway may indicate that individual amino acids play specific roles for cellular proliferation and growth.
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PMID:Glutamine is a key regulator for amino acid-controlled cell growth through the mTOR signaling pathway in rat intestinal epithelial cells. 1556 68

Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) mediates a signaling pathway that couples amino acid availability to S6 kinase (S6K) activation, translational initiation and cell growth rate, participating to a versatile checkpoint that inspects the energy status of the cell. The pathway is activated by branched-chain amino acids (BCAA), leucine being the most effective, whereas amino acid dearth and ATP shortage lead to its deactivation. Glutamine- or amino acid-deprivation and hyperosmotic stress induce a fast cell shrinkage (with marked decrease of the intracellular water volume) associated to mTOR-dependent S6K1 dephosphorylation. Using cultured Jurkat cells, we have measured the changes of cell content and intracellular concentration of ATP, of relevant amino acids (BCAA) and of ninhydrin-positive substances (NPS, as measure of NH(2)-bearing organic osmolytes) under conditions that deactivate (leucine-deprivation, glutamine-deprivation, amino acid withdrawal, sorbitol-induced hyperosmotic stress) or reactivate a previously deactivated, mTOR-S6K1 pathway. We have also assessed the mitochondrial function by measurements of mitochondrial transmembrane potential in cells subjected to hypertonic stress. Our results indicate that diverse control signals converge on the mTOR-S6K1 signaling pathway. In the presence of adequate energy resources, the pathway senses the amino acid availability as inward transport of effective amino acids (as BCAA and especially leucine), but its activation occurs only in the presence of an extracellular amino acid complement, with glutamine as obligatory component, and does not tolerate decrements of cell water volume incapable of maintaining adequate intracellular physicochemical conditions.
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PMID:Amino acid signaling through the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway: Role of glutamine and of cell shrinkage. 1560 14


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