mTOR 信号通路与自噬在肿瘤中的研究进展

自噬是以细胞内自噬体形成为特征,通过溶酶体吸收降解自身受损细胞器和大分子的一种自我消化过程,是细胞维持稳态的重要机制。自噬广泛参与多种重要的细胞功能,既能在代谢应激状态下保护受损细胞,又可能因为过度激活导致细胞发生II型程序性死亡,从而引发多种疾病,尤其对肿瘤的发生和发展更是发挥着"双刃剑"的作用。自噬通过多种分子信号机制调控肿瘤进程,包括mTOR依赖性和mTOR非依赖性途径。mTOR作为生长因子、能量和营养状态的感受器,可通过调节下游自噬复合物的形成,直接调控细胞自噬。阐明mTOR与细胞自噬的相互作用机制将有助于从分子水平上对各肿瘤病变进行分析和治疗。因此,本文就自噬与PI3K/Akt/mTOR通路在肿瘤中的研究进展作一综述。     

抑癌基因p53与细胞自噬

细胞自噬(autophagy)是一种在进化上高度保守的代谢通路,它发生的分子机制和信号调控途径相当复杂,其中mTOR信号通路和Beclin1复合物发挥了最重要的调控作用,p53也是细胞自噬重要的调节因子。研究发现,p53可通过多种途径调节细胞自噬水平,这主要决定于它的亚细胞定位。在细胞核中,p53可通过多种方式上调细胞自噬;而在细胞质中,p53对细胞自噬具有负性调节作用,可抑制细胞自噬的发生。探究清楚p53与细胞自噬之间的调控关系将有助于人类正确认识由于细胞自噬功能异常所诱导的肿瘤的发生发展过程,从而最终攻克各种肿瘤性疾病。     

AMPK/mTOR信号通路的研究进展

mTOR是细胞生长和增殖的中枢调控因子。mTOR形成2个不同的复合物mTORC1和mTORC2。mTORC1受多种信号调节,如生长因子、氨基酸和细胞能量,同时,mTORC1调节许多重要的细胞过程,包括翻译、转录和自噬。AMPK作为一种关键的生理能量传感器,是细胞和有机体能量平衡的主要调节因子,协调多种代谢途径,平衡能量的供应和需求,最终调节细胞和器官的生长。能量代谢平衡调控是由多个与之相关的信号通路所介导,其中AMPK/mTOR信号通路在细胞内共同构成一个合成代谢和分解代谢过程的开关。此外,AMPK/mTOR信号通路还是一个自噬的重要调控途径。本文着重于目前对AMPK和mTOR信号传导之间关系的了解,讨论了AMPK/mTOR在细胞和有机体能量稳态中的作用。     

线粒体自噬

细胞自噬(autophagy)是细胞依赖溶酶体对蛋白和细胞器进行降解的一条重要途径.目前,将通过细胞自噬降解线粒体的途径称为线粒体自噬(mitophagy).最近几年的证据表明,线粒体自噬是一个特异性的选择过程,并受到各种因子的精密调节,是细胞清除体内损伤线粒体和维持自身稳态的一种重要调节机制.自噬相关分子,如“核心”Atg 复合物,酵母线粒体外膜分子Atg32、Atg33、Uth1和Aup1,哺乳细胞线粒体外膜蛋白PINK1、NIX和胞质的Parkin等,在线粒体自噬中起关键的作用. 线粒体自噬异常与神经退行性疾病如帕金森氏病（Parkinson’s disease,PD）的发生密切相关. 本文就线粒体自噬的研究进展做简要的介绍.     

雌激素通过GPR30-AMPK-mTOR通路诱导Ishikawa细胞自噬增强细胞活力

雌激素是子宫内膜癌发生发展的重要诱导因子,但关于其在子宫内膜癌中的作用机制目前仍不明确。自噬对细胞的存活具有重要的调节作用,研究发现其在子宫内膜癌发生发展的过程中起重要的调节作用。本文通过探讨雌激素对子宫内膜癌细胞自噬的影响,深入地了解雌激素促进子宫内膜发展的机制,并明确GPR30-MPK-mTOR 通路在其中的作用。MTT及透视电镜的结果显示,雌激素可以诱导细胞的自噬及增强细胞的活力,而这种作用具有一定的时间及浓度依赖性。同时,蛋白质印迹及实时定量PCR结果显示雌激素可以促进LC3、p-AMPK的表达,并且抑制P62、p-mTOR的表达,表明雌激素可以激活AMPK/mTOR通路。沉默G蛋白偶联受体30（GPR30）后,结果显示雌激素诱导细胞的自噬及细胞活力的作用被逆转,并且可以抑制AMPK/mTOR通路的激活,而G-1结果与之相反,表明雌激素通过GPR30激活AMPK/mTOR通路,诱导自噬及细胞活力。此外,加入AMPK抑制剂compound C,可以抑制雌激素诱导细胞的自噬及细胞活力的能力,并且促进P62、p-mTOR表达,降低LC3及p-AMPK表达,表明雌激素通过激活AMPK/mTOR激活细胞自噬及增强细胞活力。同时细胞预先加入自噬抑制剂3-MA或转染ATG5siRNA,可以降低雌激素增强细胞的活力,表明雌激素通过诱导自噬增强细胞活力。综合以上结果,雌激素通过GPR30-AMPK-mTOR通路诱导细胞的自噬增强细胞的活力。     

硫化氢与自噬:一把双刃剑

硫化氢(hydrogen sulfide, H_2S)被认为是第三种气体信号分子,在许多生理及病理生理情况下发挥重要的调节作用。然而,在硫化氢对自噬的作用这一方面仍有一些争论。许多信号通路参与硫化氢的促自噬作用,例如AMPK/mTOR、LKB1/STRAD/MO25以及MiR-30c信号通路。同时,也有许多信号通路在硫化氢的抗自噬作用中发挥重要作用,例如SR-A、PI3K/SGK1/GSK3β、PI3K/AKT/mTOR、Nrf2-ROS-AMPK、AMPK/mTOR以及JNK1信号通路。在治疗人类疾病时,可以设计研发新型硫化氢相关药物,通过调节自噬增加疗效。本文主要讨论硫化氢在其介导的自噬信号通路中的作用。     

mTOR信号通路在疾病中的作用与调控机制

mTOR是一种丝氨酸/苏氨酸蛋白激酶,与不同的蛋白质结合形成mTORC1和mTORC2两种复合物,体现了结构和功能上的差异。mTOR信号通路参与多种生理和病理过程,不仅可以调节细胞生长、代谢、血管生成、内环境稳定、自噬和衰老等生理过程,还与多种恶性肿瘤、自身免疫性疾病、心脑血管疾病等一系列的疾病发生及肿瘤抗药性相关。该文综述了mTOR信号通路在疾病发生中的作用及调控机制,为疾病治疗提供参考。     

mTOR信号通路诱导的自噬在心肌细胞缺氧损伤中的作用研究

目的:探讨自噬在心肌细胞缺氧损伤中的作用及分子机制。方法:体外分离培养乳鼠心肌细胞,体外建立缺氧/去血清(H/SD)模型以模拟在体的缺血环境。分别给予自噬抑制剂3-甲基腺嘌呤(3MA,5 mM)和mTOR抑制剂雷帕霉素(1.0μg/L)调节心肌细胞自噬水平。分别采用TUNEL染色检测心肌细胞凋亡,Western blot方法检测心肌细胞蛋白表达水平。结果:H/SD损伤可以显著诱导心肌细胞自噬水平(P0.05),并且细胞自噬水平可以被3-MA及雷帕霉素调节。同时,H/SD可以显著增加心肌细胞凋亡(P0.05),而给予3-MA抑制自噬水平可以减少细胞凋亡(P0.05)。相反,雷帕霉素增加自噬同样可以加重缺氧导致的心肌细胞凋亡(P0.05)。H/SD损伤过程中,心肌细胞mTOR信号通路被激活,而自噬抑制剂3-MA可以显著提高缺氧条件下心肌细胞中p-mTOR(Ser2448)的表达水平(P0.05),并增加mTOR下游分子p-p70S6k(P0.05)和p-S6(P0.05)的表达。结论:mTOR信号通路诱导的细胞自噬可能参与了缺氧损伤诱导的心肌细胞凋亡。     

受体相互作用蛋白3（RIP3）调控细胞自噬的研究进展

受体相互作用蛋白3(receptor-interacting protein 3,RIP3)是一种丝氨酸-苏氨酸蛋白激酶，因其参与细胞自噬的调控而受到广泛关注。本文就RIP3在细胞自噬的发展和调控机制中的作用进行了总结。RIP3可参与mTOR信号通路的调节，同时与多种自噬所必须的蛋白发生相互作用，包括GNAI3/RGSI9、P62和TFEB等，从而其在自噬启动、自噬体形成和自噬溶酶体成熟等多个阶段发挥正向或负向调控作用，为进一步探究RIP3对细胞程序性死亡的调控机制及相关疾病治疗的潜在分子靶标筛选提供参考。     

自噬的调控通路和肿瘤

自噬是指胞浆内大分子物质和细胞器在膜包囊泡中大量降解的生物学过程,其具有独特的分子机制、形态改变和特有的调控通路,作为各种调控通路交汇点——mTOR复合体和Beclin1复合体发挥了至关重要的作用。对于人体而言,自噬具有维持细胞自我稳态,促进细胞生存的作用,然而,过度自噬则可以引起细胞死亡即＂自噬性细胞死亡＂。相关研究表明,自噬的这种特点与肿瘤的发生密切相关。对于肿瘤,自噬作用好似一把双刃剑,既促进其发生又抑制其形成。     

The association of AMPK with ULK1 regulates autophagy

Autophagy is a highly orchestrated intracellular bulk degradation process that is activated by various environmental stresses. The serine/threonine kinase ULK1, like its yeast homologue Atg1, is a key initiator of autophagy that is negatively regulated by the mTOR kinase. However, the molecular mechanism that controls the inhibitory effect of mTOR on ULK1-mediated autophagy is not fully understood. Here we identified AMPK, a central energy sensor, as a new ULK1-binding partner. We found that AMPK binds to the PS domain of ULK1 and this interaction is required for ULK1-mediated autophagy. Interestingly, activation of AMPK by AICAR induces 14-3-3 binding to the AMPK-ULK1-mTORC1 complex, which coincides with raptor Ser792 phosphorylation and mTOR inactivation. Consistently, AICAR induces autophagy in TSC2-deficient cells expressing wild-type raptor but not the mutant raptor that lacks the AMPK phosphorylation sites (Ser722 and Ser792). Taken together, these results suggest that AMPK association with ULK1 plays an important role in autophagy induction, at least in part, by phosphorylation of raptor to lift the inhibitory effect of mTOR on the ULK1 autophagic complex.     

AMPK and mTOR coordinate the regulation of Ulk1 and mammalian autophagy initiation

Ulk1 is a serine/threonine kinase and the mammalian functional homolog of yeast Atg1. It acts at the initiation step of autophagy and forms a complex with mAtg13, FIP200 and Atg101. Assembly of this complex is independent of mTOR signaling, indicating the regulation of autophagy initiation in mammals is different from that in yeast. In a recent study, we reported that Ulk1 can be phosphorylated by mTOR and AMPK kinases. AMPK associates with Ulk1 in nutrient-dependent manner. Rapid dissociation between Ulk1 and AMPK primes cells for fast autophagy induction upon nutrient withdrawal. These studies show that both mTOR and AMPK directly regulate Ulk1 and coordinate the mammalian autophagy initiation.     

AMPK and mTOR coordinate the regulation of Ulk1 and mammalian autophagy initiation

Ulk1 is a serine/threonine kinase and the mammalian functional homolog of yeast Atg1. It acts at the initiation step of autophagy and forms a complex with mAtg13, FIP200 and Atg101. Assembly of this complex is independent of mTOR signaling, indicating the regulation of autophagy initiation in mammals is different from that in yeast. In a recent study, we reported that Ulk1 can be phosphorylated by mTOR and AMPK kinases. AMPK associates with Ulk1 in nutrient-dependent manner. Rapid dissociation between Ulk1 and AMPK primes cells for fast autophagy induction upon nutrient withdrawal. These studies show that both mTOR and AMPK directly regulate Ulk1 and coordinate the mammalian autophagy initiation.     

Interferon regulatory factor-1 regulates the autophagic response in LPS-stimulated macrophages through nitric oxide

The pathogenesis of sepsis is complex and, unfortunately, poorly understood. The cellular process of autophagy is believed to play a protective role in sepsis; however, the mechanisms responsible for its regulation in this setting are ill defined. In the present study, interferon regulatory factor 1 (IRF-1) was found to regulate the autophagic response in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated macrophages. In vivo, tissue macrophages obtained from LPS-stimulated IRF-1 knockout (KO) mice demonstrated increased autophagy and decreased apoptosis compared to those isolated from IRF-1 wild-type (WT) mice. In vitro, LPS-stimulated peritoneal macrophages obtained from IRF-1 KO mice experienced increased autophagy and decreased apoptosis. IRF-1 mediates the inhibition of autophagy by modulating the activation of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). LPS induced the activation of mTOR in WT peritoneal macrophages, but not in IRF-1 KO macrophages. In contrast, overexpression of IRF-1 alone increased the activation of mTOR and consequently decreased autophagic flux. Furthermore, the inhibitory effects of IRF-1 mTOR activity were mediated by nitric oxide (NO). Therefore, we propose a novel role for IRF-1 and NO in the regulation of macrophage autophagy during LPS stimulation in which IRF-1/NO inhibits autophagy through mTOR activation.     

Autophagy gets a brake: DAP1, a novel mTOR substrate,is activated to suppress the autophagic process

Autophagy, a highly regulated catabolic process, is controlled by the action of positive and negative regulators. While many of the positive mediators of autophagy have been identified, very little is known about negative regulators that might counterbalance the process. We recently identified death-associated protein 1 (DAP1) as a suppressor of autophagy and as a novel direct substrate of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). We found that DAP1 is functionally silent in cells growing under rich nutrient supplies through mTOR-dependent inhibitory phosphorylation on two sites, which were mapped to Ser3 and Ser51. During amino acid starvation, mTOR activity is turned off resulting in a rapid reduction in the phosphorylation of DAP1. This caused the conversion of the protein into a suppressor of autophagy, thus providing a buffering mechanism that counterbalances the autophagic flux and prevents its overactivation under conditions of nutrient deprivation. Based on these studies we propose the “gas and brake” concept in which mTOR, the main sensor that regulates autophagy in response to amino acid deprivation, also controls the activity of a specific balancing brake to prevent the overactivation of autophagy.Key words: DAP1, mTOR, autophagy, amino acid starvation, phosphorylationIn recent years, many of the genes controlling and executing the autophagic process have been identified. Most of these genes act as positive mediators of the various steps of the process, including the ULK1 complex, which regulates the induction step, the Vps34-Beclin 1 complex that participates in the vesicle nucleation step and two ubiquitin-like pathways, the Atg12-Atg5 and the LC3-phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) conjugation steps, which play a central role in the vesicle elongation process. To date, only a few negative regulators of autophagy have been identified, including mTOR and the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family members. mTOR Ser/Thr kinase is a central suppressor of autophagy acting at the initiating regulatory steps of the process. Many signaling pathways act to inhibit mTOR activity, thus relieving its inhibitory effects on autophagy. The anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 and Bcl-X_L proteins, on the other hand, act at the nucleation step, by directly binding to Beclin 1''s BH3 domain, thus reducing the activation of Vps34 and subsequent autophagy. This inhibition can be relieved through dissociation of the complex, following either JNK-1 mediated phosphorylation of Bcl-2 or DAP kinase-mediated phosphorylation of the BH3 domain of Beclin 1.DAP1 is a small (∼15 kDa), ubiquitously expressed protein, rich in prolines and lacking known functional motifs. DAP1 was isolated more than a decade ago in our laboratory using a functional approach to gene cloning aimed at identifying novel mediators of IFNγ-induced cell death in mammalian cell cultures. Until recently, very little was known about the cellular and molecular functions of DAP1, mainly due to the lack of homology to other known proteins and the lack of functional motifs that could indicate a possible cellular function and studies in mammalian systems were missing.Recently, we discovered that DAP1 is another negative regulator of autophagy; yet, interestingly, its suppressive activity is selectively turned on during the autophagic process. Moreover, we found that DAP1 suppressive activity is tightly linked to the status of mTOR kinase activity. Under nutrient-rich culture conditions, DAP1 is phosphorylated by mTOR on two sites, Ser3 and Ser51, resulting in its inactivation. In response to nutrient deprivation, mTOR is inhibited and DAP1 undergoes rapid dephosphorylation. By knocking down the endogenous DAP1 and introducing either the phosphomimetic or the nonphosphorylatible DAP1 mutants, we found that the dephosphorylation leads to activation of the autophagic suppressive function of DAP1, whereas the phophorylated form is inactive. These results led to a “gas and brake” model, in which at the same time that autophagy is induced, some brakes such as DAP1 are also activated to provide a buffering mechanism that counterbalances the autophagic flux and prevents its overactivation under nutrient-deprivation conditions (Fig. 1). Notably, balancing autophagy is extremely important, since deregulated or excessive autophagy has been implicated in the pathogenesis of diverse diseases, such as certain types of neuronal degeneration and cancer and also in cellular aging.Open in a separate windowFigure 1“Gas and brake” model. During nutrient-rich conditions, active mTORC1 phosphorylates and inactivates the components of the ULK1 complex, ULK1 and Atg13, thus preventing the induction of autophagy. DAP1 is also inactivated simultaneously by mTORC1-mediated phosphorylation on Ser3 and Ser51. In addition, mTORC1 phosphorylates and activates p70S6K and 4E-BP1, which mediate the protein translation and cell growth activities of mTOR. Upon nutrient starvation, mTORC1 activity is attenuated, leading to dephosphorylation and activation of ULK1. ULK1, in turn, undergoes autophosphorylation and phosphorylates Atg13 and FIP200 resulting in ULK1 complex activation and induction of autophagy. On the other hand, activation of DAP1 by dephosphorylation, results in suppression of autophagy, thus inserting a brake into the process of autophagy. Note that the inactive proteins/complexes are faded out.The current challenge is to identify the molecular basis of the suppressive functions of DAP1 on autophagy. We have recently shown that DAP1 knockdown enhances LC3 lipidation and autophagosome accumulation both during amino acid starvation and rapamycin treatment. In addition, preliminary data indicate that the knockdown of DAP1 has no effect on mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) activity in cells, at least during the first hours of starvation. Accordingly, DAP1 may function between the mTORC1 and the LC3 conjugation systems. The potential targets may fall into one of the multiprotein complexes functioning downstream of mTOR such as the ULK1 complex, the Vps34-Beclin 1 complex and more. Future studies will be performed to identify the molecular mechanism by which DAP1 suppresses autophagy. The lack of known functional motifs in the DAP1 protein sequence suggests that this small proline-rich protein may function as an adaptor blocking autophagy by binding to critical protein partners that still await identification.Although autophagy is primarily a protective process for the cell, it can also play a role in cell death. In response to prolonged starvation, autophagy can act either as a cell survival mechanism or be recruited as a cell death executer. In the future it would be interesting to examine whether the autophagy enhancement resulting from DAP1 knockdown contributes to increased cell death in our system or even may convert the survival properties of autophagy into death induction. This will fit the “gas and brake” model, in which autophagy, which is initially recruited as a cell survival mechanism, is converted into cell death machinery when a certain threshold is crossed due to the loss of the “brake” by the knockdown of DAP1.To date, very little is known about the putative mechanisms that restrict the intensity of the autophagic flux to maintain the continuous benefits of this process under stress. Therefore, the ability of DAP1 to counterbalance and buffer the process in a manner that is tightly linked to the status of a central player in autophagy (i.e., mTOR) is an important discovery in this field and provides a target for future drug design.     

Nutrient-dependent mTORC1 Association with the ULK1–Atg13–FIP200 Complex Required for Autophagy

Autophagy is an intracellular degradation system, by which cytoplasmic contents are degraded in lysosomes. Autophagy is dynamically induced by nutrient depletion to provide necessary amino acids within cells, thus helping them adapt to starvation. Although it has been suggested that mTOR is a major negative regulator of autophagy, how it controls autophagy has not yet been determined. Here, we report a novel mammalian autophagy factor, Atg13, which forms a stable ~3-MDa protein complex with ULK1 and FIP200. Atg13 localizes on the autophagic isolation membrane and is essential for autophagosome formation. In contrast to yeast counterparts, formation of the ULK1–Atg13–FIP200 complex is not altered by nutrient conditions. Importantly, mTORC1 is incorporated into the ULK1–Atg13–FIP200 complex through ULK1 in a nutrient-dependent manner and mTOR phosphorylates ULK1 and Atg13. ULK1 is dephosphorylated by rapamycin treatment or starvation. These data suggest that mTORC1 suppresses autophagy through direct regulation of the ~3-MDa ULK1–Atg13–FIP200 complex.     

Isolation of hyperactive mutants of mammalian target of rapamycin

The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a Ser/Thr kinase that plays essential roles in the regulation of a wide array of growth-related processes such as protein synthesis, cell sizing, and autophagy. mTOR forms two functionally distinct complexes, termed the mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) and 2 (mTORC2); only the former of which is inhibited by rapamycin. Based on the similarity between the cellular responses caused by rapamycin treatment and by nutrient starvation, it has been widely accepted that modulation in the mTORC1 activity in response to nutrient status directs these cellular responses, although direct evidence has been scarce. Here we report isolation of hyperactive mutants of mTOR. The isolated mTOR mutants exhibited enhanced kinase activity in vitro and rendered cells refractory to the dephosphorylation of the mTORC1 substrates upon amino acid starvation. Cells expressing the hyperactive mTOR mutant displayed larger cell size in a normal growing condition and were resistant to cell size reduction and autophagy induction in an amino acid-starved condition. These results indicate that the activity of mTORC1 actually directs these cellular processes in response to nutrient status and confirm the biological functions of mTORC1, which had been proposed solely from loss-of-function analyses using rapamycin and (molecular)genetic techniques. Additionally, the hyperactive mTOR mutant did not induce cellular transformation of NIH/3T3 cells, suggesting that concomitant activation of additional pathways is required for tumorigenesis. This hyperactive mTOR mutant will be a valuable tool for establishing physiological consequences of mTOR activation in cells as well as in organisms.