A direct linkage between the phosphoinositide 3-Kinase-AKT signaling pathway and the mammalian target of rapamycin in mitogen-stimulated and transformed cells
A. Sekulic et al., A direct linkage between the phosphoinositide 3-Kinase-AKT signaling pathway and the mammalian target of rapamycin in mitogen-stimulated and transformed cells, CANCER RES, 60(13), 2000, pp. 3504-3513
The microbially derived antiproliferative agent rapamycin inhibits cell gro
wth by interfering with the signaling functions of the mammalian target of
rapamycin (mTOR), In this study, we demonstrate that interleukin-3 stimulat
ion induces a wortmannin-sensitive increase in mTOR kinase activity in a my
eloid progenitor cell line. The involvement of phosphoinositide 3'-kinase (
PI3K) in the regulation of mTOR activity was further suggested by findings
that mTOR was phosphorylated in vitro and in vivo by the PI3K-regulated pro
tein kinase, AKT/PKB, Although AKT phosphorylated mTOR at two COOH-terminal
sites (Thr(2446) and Ser(2448)) in vitro, Ser(2448) was the major phosphor
ylation site in insulin-stimulated or -activated AKT-expressing human embry
onic kidney cells. Transient transfection assays with mTOR mutants bearing
Ala substitutions at Ser(2448) and/or Thr(2446) indicated that AKT-dependen
t mTOR phosphorylation was not essential for either PHAS-I phosphorylation
or p70(S6K) activation in HEK cells. However, a deletion of amino acids 243
0-2450 in mTOR, which includes the potential AKT phosphorylation sites, sig
nificantly increased both the basal protein kinase activity and in vivo sig
naling functions of mTOR, These results demonstrate that mTOR is a direct t
arget of the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway in mitogen-stimulated cells, and th
at the identified AKT phosphorylation sites are nested within a "repressor
domain" that negatively regulates the catalytic activity of mTOR, Furthermo
re, the activation status of the PI3K-AKT pathway in cancer cells may be an
important determinant of cellular sensitivity to the cytostatic effect of
rapamycin.