mTOR/RAFT1/FRAP is the target of the immunosuppressive drug rapamycin and the central component of a nutrient- and hormone-sensitive signaling pathway that regulates cell growth. We report that mTOR forms a stoichiometric complex with raptor, an evolutionarily conserved protein with at least two roles in the mTOR pathway. Raptor has a positive role in nutrient-stimulated signaling to the downstream effector S6K1, maintenance of cell size, and mTOR protein expression. The association of raptor with mTOR also negatively regulates the mTOR kinase activity. Conditions that repress the pathway, such as nutrient deprivation and mitochondrial uncoupling, stabilize the mTOR-raptor association and inhibit mTOR kinase activity. We propose that raptor is a missing component of the mTOR pathway that through its association with mTOR regulates cell size in response to nutrient levels.

While it is clear that cancer arises from the accumulation of genetic mutations that endow the malignant cell with the properties of uncontrolled growth and proliferation, the precise combinations of mutations that program human tumor cell growth remain unknown. The study of the transforming proteins derived from DNA tumor viruses in experimental models of transformation has provided fundamental insights into the process of cell transformation. We recently reported that coexpression of the simian virus 40 (SV40) early region (ER), the gene encoding the telomerase catalytic subunit (hTERT), and an oncogenic allele of the H-ras gene in normal human fibroblast, kidney epithelial, and mammary epithelial cells converted these cells to a tumorigenic state. Here we show that the SV40 ER contributes to tumorigenic transformation in the presence of hTERT and oncogenic H-ras by perturbing three intracellular pathways through the actions of the SV40 large T antigen (LT) and the SV40 small t antigen (ST). LT simultaneously disables the retinoblastoma (pRB) and p53 tumor suppressor pathways; however, complete transformation of human cells requires the additional perturbation of protein phosphatase 2A by ST. Expression of ST in this setting stimulates cell proliferation, permits anchorage-independent growth, and confers increased resistance to nutrient deprivation. Taken together, these observations define the elements of the SV40 ER required for the transformation of human cells and begin to delineate a set of intracellular pathways whose disruption, in aggregate, appears to be necessary to generate tumorigenic human cells.

HIV infection of the central nervous system can result in neurologic dysfunction with devastating consequences in AIDS patients. NeuroAIDS is characterized by neuronal injury and loss, yet there is no evidence that HIV can infect neurons. Here we show that the HIV-encoded protein tat triggers formation of a macromolecular complex involving the low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein (LRP), postsynaptic density protein-95 (PSD-95), N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptors, and neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) at the neuronal plasma membrane, and that this complex leads to apoptosis in neurons negative as well as positive for NMDA receptors and also in astrocytes. Blockade of LRPmediated tat uptake, NMDA receptor activation, or neuronal nitric oxide synthase significantly reduces ensuing neuronal apoptosis, suggesting that formation of this complex is an early step in tat toxicity. We also show that the inflammatory chemokine, CCL2, protects against tat toxicity and inhibits formation of the complex. These findings implicate the complex in HIV-induced neuronal apoptosis and suggest therapeutic targets for intervention in the pathogenesis of NeuroAIDS.glutamate ͉ dementia ͉ HIV-1 ͉ NeuroAIDS ͉ excitotoxicity H IV enters the CNS early after infection. Viral persistence within the CNS can produce cognitive impairment, HIV encephalitis, and, in some cases, dementia. NeuroAIDS is characterized by neuronal damage and loss and cognitive and motor deficits and can have devastating consequences in a significant number of individuals with AIDS. As HIV-infected individuals live longer on antiretroviral therapy, the prevalence of cognitive impairment is increasing, and the study of the pathogenesis of NeuroAIDS becomes even more critical (1, 2).Although HIV infection of the CNS causes neuronal cell damage and loss, the virus cannot directly infect neurons. Rather, HIV-associated damage is thought to be due to an indirect mechanism whereby virally infected, as well as uninfected, cells elaborate neurotoxins. Candidate toxins include cytokines, glutamate, and virally encoded proteins such as the HIV transactivator protein, tat (3). Tat potentiates glutamateinduced excitotoxicity (4, 5) and promotes neuronal apoptosis (6-8). Antagonists of the N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor (NMDAR) protect against tat-induced apoptosis (5, 7), implicating NMDARs in this process.The low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein (LRP) is expressed by many cells in the CNS, including neurons and astrocytes (9, 10). LRP is a receptor for at least 16 endogenous ligands and also for the viral protein tat, and mediates uptake of these ligands into endosomes in various cells, including neurons (9). Tat and some other LRP ligands can activate NMDARs and mediate calcium signaling in neurons (4,11,12). Tat, in contrast to other LRP ligands, escapes from the endosomal/lysosomal compartment (9) and, by mechanisms still poorly known, induces apoptosis in both neurons and astrocytes.This study was undertaken to examine mechanisms by...

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