Project description:Most human cancers arise from stem/progenitor cells by sequential accumulation of genetic/epigenetic alterations, while cancer modeling typically requires simultaneous multiple oncogenic events. Here we show that a single p53 mutation, despite causing no defect in mouse brain, promoted neural stem/progenitor cells to spontaneously accumulate oncogenic alterations, including loss of multiple chromosomal (chr) regions syntenic to human chr10 containing Pten, forming malignant gliomas/glioblastomas with PI3K/Akt activation. Rictor/mTORC2 loss inhibited Akt signaling, greatly delaying and reducing glioma formation by suppressing glioma precursors within the subventricular zone stem-cell niche. Unexpectedly, Rictor/mTORC2 loss delayed timely differentiation of granule cell precursors (GCPs) during cerebellar development, promoting sustained GCP proliferation and medulloblastoma formation, which recapitulated critical features of TP53-mutant Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) medulloblastomas with GLI2 and/or N-MYC amplification. Our study demonstrates that Rictor/mTORC2 has opposing functions in neural stem cells and GCPs in the adult and developing brain, promoting malignant gliomas/glioblastoma and suppressing SHH-medulloblastoma formation, respectively.
Project description:Primary glioblastoma, representing over 90% of adult glioblastoma, develop rapidly without preexisting lower-grade glioma. We have generated a mouse model of primary glioblastoma driven by a single p53 mutation. These p53-mutant gliomas lose the syntenic region of human chromosome 10q, which is mapped to mouse chr19 and chr7. Loss of mouse chr19, containing Pten, activates PI3K/Akt signaling. Rictor/mTORC2 deletion inhibits Akt signaling, causing a significant delay in p53-mutant driven glioma formation. Unexpectedly, Rictor/mTORC2 loss promotes p53-mutant driven medulloblastomas with unique features of pediatric SHH medulloblastoma. Mechanistically, Rictor/mTORC2 loss inhibits the generation of glioma precursor cells from neural stem/progenitor cells in the adult brain, while causing a delay in differentiation of granule cell precursors in the developing brain, a cell-of-origin of SHH medulloblastoma.
Project description:DDX3X is frequently mutated in the WNT and SHH subtypes of medulloblastoma Ð the commonest malignant childhood brain tumor. But whether DDX3X functions as a medulloblastoma oncogene or tumor suppressor gene is not known. Here we show that Ddx3x regulates hindbrain patterning and development by controlling Hox gene expression and cell stress signaling. In mice predisposed to Wnt or Shh-medulloblastoma Ddx3x sensed oncogenic stress and suppressed tumor formation. WNT and SHH-medulloblastomas normally arise only in the lower and upper rhombic lips respectively. Deletion of Ddx3x relived this lineage restriction enabling both medulloblastoma subtypes to arise in either germinal zone. Thus DDX3X is a medulloblastoma tumor suppressor that regulates hindbrain development and restricts the competence of cell lineages to form medulloblastoma subtypes.
Project description:DDX3X is frequently mutated in the WNT and SHH subtypes of medulloblastoma Ð the commonest malignant childhood brain tumor. But whether DDX3X functions as a medulloblastoma oncogene or tumor suppressor gene is not known. Here we show that Ddx3x regulates hindbrain patterning and development by controlling Hox gene expression and cell stress signaling. In mice predisposed to Wnt or Shh-medulloblastoma Ddx3x sensed oncogenic stress and suppressed tumor formation. WNT and SHH-medulloblastomas normally arise only in the lower and upper rhombic lips respectively. Deletion of Ddx3x relived this lineage restriction enabling both medulloblastoma subtypes to arise in either germinal zone. Thus DDX3X is a medulloblastoma tumor suppressor that regulates hindbrain development and restricts the competence of cell lineages to form medulloblastoma subtypes.
Project description:mTORC2 signaling is critical for maintaining cellular metabolic hemostasis. We here report mTORC2 as a key regulator of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation in colonic epithelial cells. The depletion of Rictor results in serious colitis after 5 days of DSS treatment. In addition, loss of Rictor impaired OXPHOS activity and ATP production. Taken together, our data provide a molecular framework for mTORC2 signaling in colonic inflammation, in which mTORC2 positively regulate mitochondrial OXPHOS activity.
Project description:We provide evidence that IFN-induced Stat-activation is defective in cells with targeted disruption of the Rictor gene, whose protein product is a key element of mTOR complex 2 (mTORC2). Our studies show that transient or stable knockdown of Rictor leads to decreased expression of several IFN-inducible genes that mediate important biological functions, including antiproliferative and pro-apoptotic responses. Rictor+/+ and Rictor-/- MEFs were treated with 2500 U/ml of mouse IFNα for 24 hours
Project description:Rictor/mTORC2 has been demonstrated to have important roles in cancer development and progression in a number of solid and hematologic malignancies. However, little is known about the role of Rictor/mTORC2 in ovarian cancer pathophysiology. Herein, using conditional Rictor knockout mice, we were able to demonstrate that Rictor deletion disrupted glutathione metabolism through Nrf2-dependent, AKT-independent signaling and induced intracellular oxidative stress during the malignant transformation of Kras/Pten-mutant ovarian surface epithelial cells. Elevated reactive oxygen species and activated FOXO3a in Rictor-deleted cells strikingly shifts the functional interaction of β-catenin from TCF to FOXO3a, which strongly inhibits classical Wnt/β-catenin signaling. Our findings emphasize a pivotal role of Rictor in orchestrating crosstalk between the PI3K/AKT and Wnt/β-catenin signaling in the development of ovarian cancer.
Project description:The mammalian target of rapamycin complex 2 (mTORC2) contains the essential protein RICTOR and is activated by growth factors. mTORC2 in adipose tissue contributes to regulating glucose and lipid metabolism. In the perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) mTORC2 ensures normal vascular reactivity by controlling expression of inflammatory molecules. To assess whether RICTOR/mTORC2 contributes to blood pressure regulation, we applied a radiotelemetry approach in control and Rictor knockout (RictoraP2KO) mice generated by using adipocyte protein-2 gene promoter-driven CRE recombinase to delete Rictor. 24 hour mean arterial pressure (MAP) was increased in RictoraP2KO mice, and the physiologic decline in MAP during the dark period impaired. In parallel, heart rate and locomotor activity were elevated during the dark period with a pattern similar to blood pressure changes. This phenotype was associated with mild cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, decreased cardiac natriuretic peptides (NPs) and NP receptor expression in adipocytes. Moreover, clock gene expression was dampened or phase-shifted in PVAT. No differences in clock gene expression were observed in the master clock suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), though Rictor gene expression was also lower in brain of RictoraP2KO mice. Thus, the present study underscores the importance of RICTOR/mTORC2 for interactions between vasculature, adipocytes and brain to tune physiological outcomes such as blood pressure and locomotion. Gene expression in PVAT of RictoraP2KO mice was compared to controls (Rictorfl/fl) mice.
Project description:Stimulating brown adipose tissue (BAT) activity represents a promising therapy for overcoming metabolic diseases. mTORC2 has been shown to be important for regulating BAT metabolism, yet its mechanism of activation is not known, nor are the identities of its downstream effectors. In this study, we apply proteomics to investigate the role of mTORC2 in brown adipocytes. To assess the role of mTORC2 in brown adipocytes, we compare wild-type controls to isogenic cells with an induced knockout of the mTORC2-specific subunit RICTOR (Rictor-iKO) by stimulating each with insulin for a 30 minute time course, and measuring the proteomes and phosphoproteomes. In Rictor-iKO cells, we identify decreases to the abundance of glycolytic and de novo lipogenesis enzymes, and increases to mitochondrial proteins as well as a set of proteins known to increase upon interferon stimulation, suggesting increased interferon-like signaling. We observe significant differences to basal phosphorylation including decreased phosphorylation of the lipid droplet protein perilipin-1 in Rictor-iKO cells and Rictor-null mouse BAT, suggesting that RICTOR could be involved with regulating basal lipolysis or droplet dynamics. And finally, we observe a general dampening of the insulin signaling response in Rictor-iKO cells. Some sites exhibit significant dependence on RICTOR, including an AKT substrate site on ATP citrate lyase, which could partially explain the previously-observed RICTOR dependence of de novo lipogenesis from glucose in BAT.