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Constitutive mTOR activation in TSC mutants sensitizes cells to energy starvation and genomic damage via p53.

ABSTRACT: Miscoordination of growth and proliferation with the cellular stress response can lead to tumorigenesis. Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), a central cell growth controller, is highly activated in some malignant neoplasms, and its clinical implications are under extensive investigation. We show that constitutive mTOR activity amplifies p53 activation, in vitro and in vivo, by stimulating p53 translation. Thus, loss of TSC1 or TSC2, the negative regulators of mTOR, results in dramatic accumulation of p53 and apoptosis in response to stress conditions. In other words, the inactivation of mTOR prevents cell death by nutrient stress and genomic damage via p53. Consistently, we also show that p53 is elevated in TSC tumors, which rarely become malignant. The coordinated relationship between mTOR and p53 during cellular stress provides a possible explanation for the benign nature of hamartoma syndromes, including TSC. Clinically, this also suggests that the efficacy of mTOR inhibitors in anti-neoplastic therapy may also depend on p53 status, and mTOR inhibitors may antagonize the effects of genotoxic chemotherapeutics.

SUBMITTER: Lee CH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2099465 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Constitutive mTOR activation in TSC mutants sensitizes cells to energy starvation and genomic damage via p53.

Lee Chung-Han CH Inoki Ken K Karbowniczek Magdalena M Petroulakis Emmanuel E Sonenberg Nahum N Henske Elizabeth Petri EP Guan Kun-Liang KL

The EMBO journal 20071025 23

Miscoordination of growth and proliferation with the cellular stress response can lead to tumorigenesis. Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), a central cell growth controller, is highly activated in some malignant neoplasms, and its clinical implications are under extensive investigation. We show that constitutive mTOR activity amplifies p53 activation, in vitro and in vivo, by stimulating p53 translation. Thus, loss of TSC1 or TSC2, the negative regulators of mTOR, results in dramatic accumula ...[more]

PMID: 17962806

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Project description:BackgroundOptimizing the safety and efficacy of standard chemotherapeutic agents such as cisplatin (CDDP) is of clinical relevance. Serum starvation in vitro and short-term food starvation in vivo both stress cells by the sudden depletion of paracrine growth stimulation.MethodsThe effects of serum starvation on CDDP toxicity were investigated in normal and cancer cells by assessing proliferation, cell cycle distribution and activation of DNA-damage response and of AMPK, and were compared to effects observed in cells grown in serum-containing medium. The effects of short-term food starvation on CDDP chemotherapy were assessed in xenografts-bearing mice and were compared to effects on tumor growth and/or regression determined in mice with no diet alteration.ResultsWe observed that serum starvation in vitro sensitizes cancer cells to CDDP while protecting normal cells. In detail, in normal cells, serum starvation resulted in a complete arrest of cellular proliferation, i.e. depletion of BrdU-incorporation during S-phase and accumulation of the cells in the G0/G1-phase of the cell cycle. Further analysis revealed that proliferation arrest in normal cells is due to p53/p21 activation, which is AMPK-dependent and ATM-independent. In cancer cells, serum starvation also decreased the fraction of S-phase cells but to a minor extent. In contrast to normal cells, serum starvation-induced p53 activation in cancer cells is both AMPK- and ATM-dependent. Combination of CDDP with serum starvation in vitro increased the activation of ATM/Chk2/p53 signaling pathway compared to either treatment alone resulting in an enhanced sensitization of cancer cells to CDDP. Finally, short-term food starvation dramatically increased the sensitivity of human tumor xenografts to cisplatin as indicated not only by a significant growth delay, but also by the induction of complete remission in 60% of the animals bearing mesothelioma xenografts, and in 40% of the animals with lung carcinoma xenografts.ConclusionIn normal cells, serum starvation in vitro induces a cell cycle arrest and protects from CDDP induced toxicity. In contrast, proliferation of cancer cells is only moderately reduced by serum starvation whereas CDDP toxicity is enhanced. The combination of CDDP treatment with short term food starvation improved outcome in vivo. Therefore, starvation has the potential to enhance the therapeutic index of cisplatin-based therapy.

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Constitutive mTOR activation in TSC mutants sensitizes cells to energy starvation and genomic damage via p53.

Publications

Constitutive mTOR activation in TSC mutants sensitizes cells to energy starvation and genomic damage via p53.

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