mTORC1 is essential for leukemia propagation but not stem cell self-renewal
01 Jun 2012-Journal of Clinical Investigation (American Society for Clinical Investigation)-Vol. 122, Iss: 6, pp 2114-2129
TL;DR: Transplantation of Raptor-deficient undifferentiated AML cells in a limiting dilution revealed that mTORC1 is essential for leukemia initiation, and it was demonstrated that the reactivation of m TORC1 in those cells restored their leukemia-initiating capacity.
Abstract: Although dysregulation of mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) promotes leukemogenesis, how mTORC1 affects established leukemia is unclear. We investigated the role of mTORC1 in mouse hematopoiesis using a mouse model of conditional deletion of Raptor, an essential component of mTORC1. Raptor deficiency impaired granulocyte and B cell development but did not alter survival or proliferation of hematopoietic progenitor cells. In a mouse model of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), Raptor deficiency significantly suppressed leukemia progression by causing apoptosis of differentiated, but not undifferentiated, leukemia cells. mTORC1 did not control cell cycle or cell growth in undifferentiated AML cells in vivo. Transplantation of Raptor-deficient undifferentiated AML cells in a limiting dilution revealed that mTORC1 is essential for leukemia initiation. Strikingly, a subset of AML cells with undifferentiated phenotypes survived long-term in the absence of mTORC1 activity. We further demonstrated that the reactivation of mTORC1 in those cells restored their leukemia-initiating capacity. Thus, AML cells lacking mTORC1 activity can self-renew as AML stem cells. Our findings provide mechanistic insight into how residual tumor cells circumvent anticancer therapies and drive tumor recurrence.
Citations
More filters
Journal Article•
TL;DR: Research data show that more resistant stem cells than common cancer cells exist in cancer patients, and to identify unrecognized differences between cancer stem cells and cancer cells might be able to develop effective classification, diagnose and treat for cancer.
Abstract: Stem cells are defined as cells able to both extensively self-renew and differentiate into progenitors. Research data show that more resistant stem cells than common cancer cells exist in cancer patients.To identify unrecognized differences between cancer stem cells and cancer cells might be able to develope effective classification,diagnose and treat ment for cancer.
2,194 citations
TL;DR: It is shown that phosphorylation of the autophagy-adaptor protein p62 markedly increases p62's binding affinity for Keap1, an adaptor of the Cul3-ubiquitin E3 ligase complex responsible for degrading Nrf2, and that inhibitors of the interaction between phosphorylated p62 and Keap 1 have potential as therapeutic agents against human HCC.
824 citations
Cites background from "mTORC1 is essential for leukemia pr..."
...Phosphorylation of p62 and induction of Nqo1 both decreased upon As(III) exposure in MEFs lacking Raptor (Hoshii et al., 2012), a component of the mTORC1 complex (Figures S2B and S2C)....
[...]
Dissertation•
01 Jan 2010
262 citations
TL;DR: A comprehensive review of the current understanding of the mechanisms and regulation of autophagy in embryonic stem cells, several tissue stem cells (particularly hematopoietic stem cells), as well as a number of cancer stem cells is provided.
Abstract: Autophagy is a highly conserved cellular process by which cytoplasmic components are sequestered in autophagosomes and delivered to lysosomes for degradation. As a major intracellular degradation and recycling pathway, autophagy is crucial for maintaining cellular homeostasis as well as remodeling during normal development, and dysfunctions in autophagy have been associated with a variety of pathologies including cancer, inflammatory bowel disease and neurodegenerative disease. Stem cells are unique in their ability to self-renew and differentiate into various cells in the body, which are important in development, tissue renewal and a range of disease processes. Therefore, it is predicted that autophagy would be crucial for the quality control mechanisms and maintenance of cellular homeostasis in various stem cells given their relatively long life in the organisms. In contrast to the extensive body of knowledge available for somatic cells, the role of autophagy in the maintenance and function of stem cells is only beginning to be revealed as a result of recent studies. Here we provide a comprehensive review of the current understanding of the mechanisms and regulation of autophagy in embryonic stem cells, several tissue stem cells (particularly hematopoietic stem cells), as well as a number of cancer stem cells. We discuss how recent studies of different knockout mice models have defined the roles of various autophagy genes and related pathways in the regulation of the maintenance, expansion and differentiation of various stem cells. We also highlight the many unanswered questions that will help to drive further research at the intersection of autophagy and stem cell biology in the near future.
255 citations
Cites background from "mTORC1 is essential for leukemia pr..."
...Conversely, the deletion of the MTORC1 component RAPTOR, therefore theoretically causing an increase in autophagy, results in a decrease of this myeloid population.(91) However, it remains to be shown definitively that loss or gain of autophagy contributes to this phenotype, as MTOR inhibition signals for many other important cellular functions such as inhibition of protein translation, mitochondrial biogenesis, cell growth, motility and proliferation....
[...]
TL;DR: It is shown that glutamine removal inhibits mTORC1 and induces apoptosis in AML cells, and that l-ases upregulate glutamine synthase expression in leukemic cells and that a GS knockdown enhances l-ase-induced apoptotic response in someAML cells.
238 citations
Cites background from "mTORC1 is essential for leukemia pr..."
...Recently, it was shown in a raptor deficiency mouse model thatmTORC1 inactivation induces apoptosis in differentiated leukemic cells and maintains immature leukemic cells with leukemia initiation potential in a dormant state, underlying the critical role of mTORC1 in leukemia.(4) In vitro, in primary AML cells, mTORC1 inhibition with rapamycin has cytostatic effects but does not induce apoptosis,(2-5) mainly because it does not inhibit 4E-BP1 phosphorylation on ser65....
[...]
References
More filters
TL;DR: It is found that the phosphorylation response to insulin is largely mTOR dependent and that mTOR exhibits a unique preference for proline, hydrophobic, and aromatic residues at the +1 position.
Abstract: The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) protein kinase is a master growth promoter that nucleates two complexes, mTORC1 and mTORC2. Despite the diverse processes controlled by mTOR, few substrates are known. We defined the mTOR-regulated phosphoproteome by quantitative mass spectrometry and characterized the primary sequence motif specificity of mTOR using positional scanning peptide libraries. We found that the phosphorylation response to insulin is largely mTOR dependent and that mTOR exhibits a unique preference for proline, hydrophobic, and aromatic residues at the +1 position. The adaptor protein Grb10 was identified as an mTORC1 substrate that mediates the inhibition of phosphoinositide 3-kinase typical of cells lacking tuberous sclerosis complex 2 (TSC2), a tumor suppressor and negative regulator of mTORC1. Our work clarifies how mTORC1 inhibits growth factor signaling and opens new areas of investigation in mTOR biology.
1,002 citations
"mTORC1 is essential for leukemia pr..." refers background in this paper
...of mTORC1, including Raptor, 4E-BP1/2, AKTS1 (also known as PRAS40), and LARP1 (26, 27)....
[...]
...Among these molecules, there were several known downstream targets of mTORC1, including Raptor, 4E-BP1/2, AKTS1 (also known as PRAS40), and LARP1 (26, 27)....
[...]
...Feedback activation of the PI3K/AKT pathway is triggered by inhibition of Grb10 and/or activation of IRS after acute mTORC1 inactivation (26, 27)....
[...]
...org Volume 122 Number 6 June 2012 rapamycin and ATP-competitive mTOR inhibitors (26, 27)....
[...]
TL;DR: A role for mTOR in translational control is defined and further insights into the mechanism whereby rapamycin inhibits G1-phase progression in mammalian cells are offered.
Abstract: The immunosuppressant rapamycin interferes with G1-phase progression in lymphoid and other cell types by inhibiting the function of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). mTOR was determined to be a terminal kinase in a signaling pathway that couples mitogenic stimulation to the phosphorylation of the eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF)-4E-binding protein, PHAS-I. The rapamycin-sensitive protein kinase activity of mTOR was required for phosphorylation of PHAS-I in insulin-stimulated human embryonic kidney cells. mTOR phosphorylated PHAS-I on serine and threonine residues in vitro, and these modifications inhibited the binding of PHAS-I to eIF-4E. These studies define a role for mTOR in translational control and offer further insights into the mechanism whereby rapamycin inhibits G1-phase progression in mammalian cells.
963 citations
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that, as for the regulation of cell growth and cell size, the S6K1 and 4E-BP1/eIF4E pathways each represent critical mediators of mTOR-dependent cell cycle control.
Abstract: The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) integrates nutrient and mitogen signals to regulate cell growth (increased cell mass and cell size) and cell division. The immunosuppressive drug rapamycin inhibits cell cycle progression via inhibition of mTOR; however, the signaling pathways by which mTOR regulates cell cycle progression have remained poorly defined. Here we demonstrate that restoration of mTOR signaling (by using a rapamycin-resistant mutant of mTOR) rescues rapamycin-inhibited G1-phase progression, and restoration of signaling along the mTOR-dependent S6K1 or 4E-BP1/eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) pathways provides partial rescue. Furthermore, interfering RNA-mediated reduction of S6K1 expression or overexpression of mTOR-insensitive 4E-BP1 isoforms that block eIF4E activity inhibit G1-phase progression individually and additively. Thus, the activities of both the S6K1 and 4E-BP1/eIF4E pathways are required for and independently mediate mTOR-dependent G1-phase progression. In addition, overexpression of constitutively active mutants of S6K1 or wild-type eIF4E accelerates serum-stimulated G1-phase progression, and stable expression of wild-type S6K1 confers a proliferative advantage in low-serum-containing media, suggesting that the activity of each of these pathways is limiting for cell proliferation. These data demonstrate that, as for the regulation of cell growth and cell size, the S6K1 and 4E-BP1/eIF4E pathways each represent critical mediators of mTOR-dependent cell cycle control.
829 citations
"mTORC1 is essential for leukemia pr..." refers background in this paper
...Previous studies demonstrated that mTORC1 activity plays critical roles in cell proliferation in embryonic fibroblasts and cell lines (45, 46)....
[...]
TL;DR: It is shown that inactivation of PTEN in bone marrow HSCs causes their short-term expansion, but long-term decline, primarily owing to an enhanced level of HSC activation.
Abstract: Haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) must achieve a balance between quiescence and activation that fulfils immediate demands for haematopoiesis without compromising long-term stem cell maintenance, yet little is known about the molecular events governing this balance. Phosphatase and tensin homologue (PTEN) functions as a negative regulator of the phosphatidylinositol-3-OH kinase (PI(3)K)-Akt pathway, which has crucial roles in cell proliferation, survival, differentiation and migration. Here we show that inactivation of PTEN in bone marrow HSCs causes their short-term expansion, but long-term decline, primarily owing to an enhanced level of HSC activation. PTEN-deficient HSCs engraft normally in recipient mice, but have an impaired ability to sustain haematopoietic reconstitution, reflecting the dysregulation of their cell cycle and decreased retention in the bone marrow niche. Mice with PTEN-mutant bone marrow also have an increased representation of myeloid and T-lymphoid lineages and develop myeloproliferative disorder (MPD). Notably, the cell populations that expand in PTEN mutants match those that become dominant in the acute myeloid/lymphoid leukaemia that develops in the later stages of MPD. Thus, PTEN has essential roles in restricting the activation of HSCs, in lineage fate determination, and in the prevention of leukaemogenesis.
820 citations
"mTORC1 is essential for leukemia pr..." refers background in this paper
...Pten deficiency in hematopoietic cells promotes myeloproliferative disease followed by development of leukemia (12, 14, 15)....
[...]
TL;DR: A four-compartment model, based on the known biology of haematopoietic differentiation, can explain the kinetics of the molecular response to imatinib in a 169-patient data set and provides the first quantitative insights into the in vivoKinetics of a human cancer.
Abstract: The clinical success of the ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib in chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) serves as a model for molecularly targeted therapy of cancer, but at least two critical questions remain. Can imatinib eradicate leukaemic stem cells? What are the dynamics of relapse due to imatinib resistance, which is caused by mutations in the ABL kinase domain? The precise understanding of how imatinib exerts its therapeutic effect in CML and the ability to measure disease burden by quantitative polymerase chain reaction provide an opportunity to develop a mathematical approach. We find that a four-compartment model, based on the known biology of haematopoietic differentiation, can explain the kinetics of the molecular response to imatinib in a 169-patient data set. Successful therapy leads to a biphasic exponential decline of leukaemic cells. The first slope of 0.05 per day represents the turnover rate of differentiated leukaemic cells, while the second slope of 0.008 per day represents the turnover rate of leukaemic progenitors. The model suggests that imatinib is a potent inhibitor of the production of differentiated leukaemic cells, but does not deplete leukaemic stem cells. We calculate the probability of developing imatinib resistance mutations and estimate the time until detection of resistance. Our model provides the first quantitative insights into the in vivo kinetics of a human cancer.
815 citations
"mTORC1 is essential for leukemia pr..." refers background in this paper
...This is illustrated by the case of chronic myeloid leukemia patients treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (37, 38)....
[...]