The rapamycin-sensitive TOR signalling pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae activates a cell-growth program in response to nutrients such as nitrogen and carbon. The TOR1 and TOR2 kinases (TOR) control cytoplasmic protein synthesis and degradation through the conserved TAP42 protein. Upon phosphorylation by TOR, TAP42 binds and possibly inhibits type 2A and type-2A-related phosphatases; however, the mechanism by which TOR controls nuclear events such as global repression of starvation-specific transcription is unknown. Here we show that TOR prevents transcription of genes expressed upon nitrogen limitation by promoting the association of the GATA transcription factor GLN3 with the cytoplasmic protein URE2. The binding of GLN3 to URE2 requires TOR-dependent phosphorylation of GLN3. Phosphorylation and cytoplasmic retention of GLN3 are also dependent on the TOR effector TAP42, and are antagonized by the type-2A-related phosphatase SIT4. TOR inhibits expression of carbon-source-regulated genes by stimulating the binding of the transcriptional activators MSN2 and MSN4 to the cytoplasmic 14-3-3 protein BMH2. Thus, the TOR signalling pathway broadly controls nutrient metabolism by sequestering several transcription factors in the cytoplasm.

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae targets of rapamycin, TOR1 and TOR2, signal activation of cell growth in response to nutrient availability. Loss of TOR or rapamycin treatment causes yeast cells to arrest growth in early G1 and to express several other physiological properties of starved (G0) cells. As part of this starvation response, high affinity amino acid permeases such as the tryptophan permease TAT2 are targeted to the vacuole and degraded. Here we show that the TOR signalling pathway phosphorylates the Ser/Thr kinase NPR1 and thereby inhibits the starvation-induced turnover of TAT2. Overexpression of NPR1 inhibits growth and induces the degradation of TAT2, whereas loss of NPR1 confers resistance to rapamycin and to FK506, an inhibitor of amino acid import. NPR1 is controlled by TOR and the type 2A phosphatase-associated protein TAP42. First, overexpression of NPR1 is toxic only when TOR function is reduced. Secondly, NPR1 is rapidly dephosphorylated in the absence of TOR. Thirdly, NPR1 dephosphorylation does not occur in a rapamycin-resistant tap42 mutant. Thus, the TOR nutrient signalling pathway also controls growth by inhibiting a stationary phase (G0) programme. The control of NPR1 by TOR is analogous to the control of p70 s6 kinase and 4E-BP1 by mTOR in mammalian cells.

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae phosphatidylinositol kinase homolog TOR2 is required for organization of the actin cytoskeleton. Overexpression of RHO1 or RHO2, encoding Rho-like GTPases, or ROM2, encoding a GDP/GTP exchange factor for RHO1 and RHO2, suppresses a tor2 mutation. Deletion of SAC7, a gene originally identified as a suppressor of an actin mutation, also suppresses a tor2 mutation. SAC7 is a novel GTPase-activating protein for RHO1. ROM2 exchange activity is reduced in a tor2 mutant, and overexpression of ROM2 lacking its PH domain can no longer suppress a tor2 mutation. Thus, TOR2 signals to the actin cytoskeleton through a GTPase switch composed of RHO1, RHO2, ROM2, and SAC7. TOR2 activates this switch via ROM2, possibly via the ROM2 PH domain.

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, amino acid permeases are divided into two classes. One class, represented by the general amino acid permease GAP1, contains permeases regulated in response to the nitrogen source. The other class, including the high affinity tryptophan permease, TAT2, consists of the so-called constitutive permeases. We show that TAT2 is regulated at the level of protein stability. In exponentially growing cells, TAT2 is in the plasma membrane and also accumulates in internal compartments of the secretory pathway. Upon nutrient deprivation or rapamycin treatment, TAT2 is transported to and degraded in the vacuole. The ubiquitination machinery and lysine residues within the NH2-terminal 31 amino acids of TAT2 mediate ubiquitination and degradation of the permease. Starvation-induced degradation of internal TAT2 is blocked in sec18, sec23, pep12, and vps27 mutants, but not in sec4, end4, and apg1 mutants, suggesting that, upon nutrient limitation, internal TAT2 is diverted from the late secretory pathway to the vacuolar pathway. Furthermore, our results suggest that TAT2 stability and sorting are controlled by the TOR signaling pathway, and regulated inversely to that of GAP1.

The efficacy of pre- and postexposure treatment with the antiviral compound (R)-9-(2-phosphonylmethoxypropyl)adenine (PMPA) was tested against simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) in macaques as a model for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). PMPA was administered subcutaneously once daily beginning either 48 hours before, 4 hours after, or 24 hours after virus inoculation. Treatment continued for 4 weeks and the virologic, immunologic, and clinical status of the macaques was monitored for up to 56 weeks. PMPA prevented SIV infection in all macaques without toxicity, whereas all control macaques became infected. These results suggest a potential role for PMPA prophylaxis against early HIV infection in cases of known exposure.

The TOR (target of rapamycin) and RAS/cyclic AMP (cAMP) signaling pathways are the two major pathways controlling cell growth in response to nutrients in yeast. In this study we examine the functional interaction between TOR and the RAS/cAMP pathway. First, activation of the RAS/cAMP signaling pathway confers pronounced resistance to rapamycin. Second, constitutive activation of the RAS/cAMP pathway prevents several rapamycin-induced responses, such as the nuclear translocation of the transcription factor MSN2 and induction of stress genes, the accumulation of glycogen, the induction of autophagy, the down-regulation of ribosome biogenesis (ribosomal protein gene transcription and RNA polymerase I and III activity), and the down-regulation of the glucose transporter HXT1. Third, many of these TOR-mediated responses are independent of the previously described TOR effectors TAP42 and the type 2A-related protein phosphatase SIT4. Conversely, TOR-controlled TAP42/SIT4-dependent events are not affected by the RAS/cAMP pathway. Finally, and importantly, TOR controls the subcellular localization of both the protein kinase A catalytic subunit TPK1 and the RAS/cAMP signaling-related kinase YAK1. Our findings suggest that TOR signals through the RAS/cAMP pathway, independently of TAP42/SIT4. Therefore, the RAS/cAMP pathway may be a novel TOR effector branch.The Saccharomyces cerevisiae targets of rapamycin, TOR1 and TOR2, are functionally and structurally conserved protein kinases that control a large and diverse set of growth-related readouts in response to nutrient availability (53). In yeast, rapamycin treatment or TOR depletion results in several physiological changes characteristic of starved cells, including inhibition of translation initiation, inhibition of ribosome biogenesis, specific changes in transcription, sorting and turnover of nutrient permeases, accumulation of storage carbohydrates (such as glycogen), and induction of autophagy (reviewed in references 12 and 52). Nitrogen (in particular glutamine) and possibly carbon are important nutrients in the context of yeast TOR signaling (13,56). Mammalian TOR (mTOR) controls translation and other growth-related processes in response to amino acids and a growth factor signal (e.g., insulin). The growth factor input into the mTOR pathway is via phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), PDK1, and protein kinase B (PKB; also known as Akt). The precise nature of the link between mTOR and PI3K signaling remains to be determined but may involve the PKB-mediated phosphorylation and inhibition of the tuberous sclerosis protein complex (TSC1-TSC2) upstream of mTOR. Control of translation by mTOR is via activation of S6 kinase (S6K) and inhibition of the eIF4E inhibitor 4E-BP1 (reviewed in reference 30).The yeast TORs control several readouts via a phosphatase switch composed of the type 2A-related phosphatase SIT4, the PP2A/SIT4-associated protein TAP42, and the TAP42-interacting protein TIP41 (16,29,31). Under good nutrient conditions, TOR promotes the binding of SIT4 to TAP...

Cat APOBEC3 genes

APOBEC3 (A3, Apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing catalytic polypeptide 3) genes in the genome of domestic cat (Felis catus) were identified and characterized

Tyrosine kinase growth factor receptors and Ras/Raf/MEK/MAPK signalling have been implicated in the suppression as well as augmentation of programmed cell death. In addition, a Ras-independent role for Raf as a suppressor of programmed cell death has been suggested by the recent finding that Craf1 interacts with members of the Bcl-2 family at mitochondrial membranes. However, genetic studies of C. elegans and Drosophila, as well as the targeted mutagenesis of the murine Araf gene, have failed to support such a role. Here we show that mice with a targeted disruption in the Braf gene die of vascular defects during mid-gestation. Braf -/- embryos, unlike Araf -/- or Craf1 -/- embryos (L.W. et al., unpublished), show an increased number of endothelial precursor cells, dramatically enlarged blood vessels and apoptotic death of differentiated endothelial cells. These results establish Braf as a critical signalling factor in the formation of the vascular system and provide the first genetic evidence for an essential role of Raf gene in the regulation of programmed cell death.