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J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 278, Issue 35, 32493-32496, August 29, 2003
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ACCELERATED PUBLICATIONS

¶
From the
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular
Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine and Walther Cancer Institute,
Indianapolis, Indiana 46202 and ||Department of
Cell and Cancer Biology, NCI, National Institutes of Health, Rockville,
Maryland 20850
Received for publication, May 29, 2003 , and in revised form, June 26, 2003.
| ABSTRACT |
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| INTRODUCTION |
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Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) and lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) are additional diseases that could be linked to the loss of GTPase regulation. TSC is a genetic disorder that results in the formation of benign tumors known as hamartomas, most typically found in kidney, brain, heart, and lung (3, 5). LAM is a devastating lung disease that affects mainly women and is characterized by proliferation of atypical smooth muscle cells within the lung parenchyma (6). The inactivation of two tumor suppressor genes has been associated with TSC and LAM: TSC1 encodes the protein hamartin (TSC1), and TSC2 that encodes tuberin (TSC2) (79). Although TSC1 contains coiled-coil domains that are important for the formation of a functional complex with TSC2, TSC2 shares sequence homology with a family of GAPs that regulate the Ras-related GTPase, Rap1 (5). Accordingly, TSC2 has been reported to increase the intrinsic GTPase activity of Rap1 and also Rab5 in vitro (10, 11). However, it is not known whether this activity occurs in vivo or if it contributes to the physiological function of the TSC1-TSC2 complex.
Several recent studies in Drosophila and mammalian cells have indicated that the TSC1-TSC2 complex represses cell growth downstream of insulin through the inhibition of S6K, a key component in the regulation of protein translation (1217). Although not all studies are in full agreement, the TSC complex appears to negatively regulate the S6K activator, mTOR (13, 14, 16, 18). This inhibition is relieved by direct phosphorylation of TSC2 by Akt (13, 1921). However, the biochemical function of the TSC complex remains unclear. Over-expression of the C terminus of TSC2, which lacks interaction with TSC1, was sufficient to suppress tumorigenesis in cancer cell lines and in a transgenic rat system, suggesting that it is the active component of the TSC complex (22, 23). Intriguingly, this region of TSC2 encompasses the Rap GAP-related domain and is the most highly conserved region of TSC2 in eukaryotic species ranging from yeast to man (5).
In this study, in an effort to understand its mechanism of action, we investigated whether TSC2 could regulate Rap1 or related GTPases in vivo. Our results suggest that TSC2 suppresses mTOR-dependent activation of S6K via the Ras-related GTPase, Rheb.
| EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES |
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Immunoblot Analysis for S6 and S6K Phosphorylation293T human embryonic kidney cells were plated at 4 x 105 cells/60-mm dish and transfected the following day using calcium phosphate precipitation. After 24 h, cells were serum-starved overnight and lysed in 50 mM HEPES, pH 7.5, 500 mM NaCl, 6 mM MgCl2, 0.2 mM Na3VO4, 1% Triton X-100, 0.5% sodium deoxycholate, 0.05% SDS, 19 µg/ml aprotinin, and 1 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride. Lysates were subjected to SDS-PAGE and Western blotting with anti-HA monoclonal antibody (Covance) for Ras GTPases, M2 anti-FLAG antibody (Sigma) for TSC gene products, anti-ribosomal protein S6, anti-phospho-ribosomal protein S6 (Ser-235 and Ser-236), anti-phospho-p70S6 kinase (Thr-389), and anti-phospho-p70S6 kinase (Thr-421 and Ser-424) antibodies (Cell Signaling Technology Inc., Beverly, MA). Equal loading of lanes was confirmed by blotting with glyceraldehyde-3-P dehydrogenase monoclonal antibody (Biodesign Int., Saco, ME). Rapamycin, FTI 277, and U0126 were from Calbiochem.
MiscellaneousRas protein binding assays were performed as
described previously (25),
except the nonhydrolyzable GTP analog, GppNHp (Sigma), and
5 µg of
GST-Ras fusion proteins were used. For TSC2 expression, 293T cells were
transfected using the calcium phosphate precipitation method. In vivo
GAP activity was determined essentially as described
(25), except that cells were
transfected by calcium phosphate precipitation, and only 150 ng of HA-tagged
Rheb plasmid was used for the in vivo Rheb GAP assay.
| RESULTS AND DISCUSSION |
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To determine whether TSC2 might alternatively regulate other Ras family members, we expressed a FLAG-tagged C-terminal fragment of TSC2 and attempted to precipitate it from 293T cell lysates using a panel of GST-fused Ras proteins that had been loaded with the nonhydrolyzable GTP analog, GppNHp. As shown in Fig. 2, the truncated TSC2 was efficiently precipitated by GST-Rheb but only weakly or not at all by Rap1A, Ral, Ha-Ras, or R-Ras.
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To examine whether the binding of TSC2 to Rheb promotes GTP hydrolysis in vivo, we performed experiments similar to those described in Fig. 1 to measure the levels of GTP-bound Rheb following TSC2 over-expression. As reported previously (27), the basal level of GTP-bound Rheb was higher than that of Rap1A (Fig. 3). Over-expression of TSC2 significantly decreased the levels of GTP-bound Rheb (Fig. 3), consistent with TSC2 binding to Rheb and acting as a Rheb GAP in vivo. However, because the GTP-bound state of Rheb is influenced by its expression level (27), the reduced binding of Rheb to GTP in the presence of TSC2 may just be a reflection of its reduced expression (Fig. 3, compare intensities of spots in lanes 1 and 2 with those in lanes 3 and 4).
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The cellular function of Rheb in mammals is unknown (24, 27, 28). However, genetic studies in fission yeast have implicated it in amino acid uptake and metabolism. Loss of Rhb1, a Rheb-related GTPase in Schizosaccharomyces pombe, causes growth arrest and a cellular morphology similar to that generated by nitrogen starvation (29). Additionally, the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Rheb was shown to regulate the uptake of basic amino acids (30). Mutation of the S. pombe TSC1-TSC2 complex also disrupts nutrient uptake, supportive of a functional link between Rheb and TSC2 (31). The mammalian TSC1-TSC2 complex seems to regulate cell growth by inhibiting the mTOR-dependent activation of S6K1. Indeed, over-expression of TSC2 (12) or the TSC1-TSC2 complex (Fig. 4A (13, 16)) significantly reduced basal- and insulin-stimulated phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6. Because TSC2 decreases the level of active, GTP-bound Rheb in vivo, it seemed likely that Rheb is the cellular target of TSC1-TSC2 in the mTOR signaling pathway. Therefore, we explored whether over-expression of wild type Rheb or a GTPase-defective Rheb(64L) mutant affects endogenous S6 phosphorylation. Both proteins induced strong phosphorylation of S6 at serines 235 and 236, whereas constitutively activated Rap1A(63E) or Rap1A(64A) mutants were ineffective (Fig 4B). The strong activity of the wild type Rheb was consistent with the high levels of active GTP-bound Rheb detected under basal conditions (see Fig. 3), whereas the weaker activity of Rheb(64L) was likely because of its lower expression.
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Phosphorylation of the ribosomal protein S6 occurs upon S6K activation. Because S6K is activated by phosphorylation on several residues (32), we analyzed S6K activity using phospho-specific antibodies. Over-expression of wild type Rheb induced strong phosphorylation of endogenous S6K at residues Thr-389, Thr-421, and Ser-424, which correlated with an increase in S6 phosphorylation (Fig. 5). Although it has been shown that TSC1-TSC2 appears to regulate S6K phosphorylation primarily at residue 389 (12, 13, 19), cells derived from LAM lesions and TSC2/ cells exhibit constitutive phosphorylation of S6K at residues Thr-389, Thr-421, and Ser-424 (12).
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Because the effect of TSC1-TSC2 on S6K activity is mTOR-dependent, we next determined whether Rheb affects S6 phosphorylation in an mTOR-dependent manner. Treatment with rapamycin, which inhibits mTOR activity, completely blocked the increase in S6 phosphorylation induced by wild type Rheb, whereas the MEK inhibitor U0126 was ineffective (Fig. 5). Overall, these results are consistent with TSC1-TSC2-mediated inhibition of the mTOR pathway occurring at the level of Rheb. Although these data do not conclusively establish whether Rheb acts directly on mTOR or via a parallel pathway to coordinate S6 phosphorylation, in favor of TSC1-TSC2 and Rheb acting upstream of mTOR, it has been shown that dTSC1-TSC2 interact with dTOR in Drosophila melanogaster cells (18), and coexpression of TSC1-TSC2 with mTOR in mammalians cells inhibits mTOR kinase activity (13).
On the basis of current knowledge, we propose that Rheb-GTP is an upstream activator of mTOR. In this model, TSC2 acting as a Rheb GAP would prevent Rheb from activating mTOR. After mitogen stimulation, Akt phosphorylates TSC2, reducing its Rheb GAP activity, thus increasing the amount of Rheb-GTP and consequently mTOR kinase activity. However, this model is not consistent with some studies that failed to detect significant changes in mTOR activity upon mitogenic stimulation (3335). An alternative possibility is that Rheb might alleviate the activity of a negative regulator of mTOR-dependent S6K activation. In this regard, it has been shown that protein phosphatase 2A-mediated regulation of S6K is controlled by mTOR (36). A model in which Rheb regulates accessibility of mTOR to such a phosphatase would be consistent with our findings. During the review process, additional studies confirmed that Rheb is a component of the insulin/TOR pathway and that TSC2 possesses Rheb GAP activity (3740). However, the specific mechanism by which Rheb regulates the mTOR pathway remains to be established.
Aberrant up-regulation of the mTOR signaling pathway resulting from the loss of either TSC2 or TSC1 function in TSC and LAM patients points to rapamycin as a potential treatment. The present work also suggests that Rheb is a critical component of the mTOR pathway. Like Ras, Rheb is post-translationally modified by the farnesyl lipid, enabling attachment to membranes for normal cellular function (24). Indeed, farnesylation of Rheb is essential for cell cycle progression in yeast and cannot be substituted by the related geranylgeranyl moiety (41). FTIs have been designed as anti-tumor agents to block the lipid modification of oncogenic Ras. However, the anti-neoplastic activities of these inhibitors appear to be because of their ability to alter the prenylation and function of proteins other than Ras (4244). Interestingly, FTIs block S6K activation (45), suggesting that Rheb may be the elusive farnesyl transferase substrate responsible for tumor cell growth arrest. To evaluate whether farnesylation is important for the mTOR-dependent S6 phosphorylation induced by Rheb, we treated cells with FTI 277. As anticipated, FTI 277 dramatically inhibited basal and Rheb-stimulated S6 phosphorylation (Fig. 6). These observations imply that Rheb farnesylation is critical for upstream regulation of S6K activity and may be the cellular target of FTIs, and that these drugs may be useful in the clinical treatment of TSC and/or LAM.
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In summary, our present results have demonstrated that TSC2 binds to and decreases the levels of active GTP-bound Rheb in vivo, suggesting a functional role for Rheb in opposing the TSC1-TSC2 signaling pathway. Consistent with this notion, we have demonstrated that Rheb induces mTOR-dependent S6K1 activation and S6 phosphorylation. Importantly, this Rheb activity can be blocked by FTI treatment, suggesting that Rheb may be the missing target of FTIs in cancer treatment.
| FOOTNOTES |
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¶ Supported by Training Grant T32-H07774 from NHLBI, National Institutes of
Health. ![]()
To whom correspondence should be addressed: Dept. of Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine, 35 Barnhill Dr.,
MS-4053, Indianapolis, IN 46202-5122. Tel.: 317-278-3319; Fax: 317-274-4686;
E-mail:
acastro{at}iupui.edu.
1 The abbreviations used are: GAP, GTPase activating protein; FTI, farnesyl
transferase inhibitor; LAM, lymphangioleiomyomatosis; S6K, ribosomal S6
kinase; TSC, tuberous sclerosis complex; mTOR, mammalian target of rapamycin;
dTOR, Drosophila target of rapamycin; CMV, cytomegalovirus; GppNHp,
guanosine 5'-(
,
-imido)triphosphate; HA, hemagglutinin; MEK,
mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase
kinase. ![]()
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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| REFERENCES |
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