Lysophosphatidic acid acyltransferase beta regulates mTOR signaling

PLoS One. 2013 Oct 31;8(10):e78632. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0078632. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

Lysophosphatidic acid acyltransferase (LPAAT-β) is a phosphatidic acid (PA) generating enzyme that plays an essential role in triglyceride synthesis. However, LPAAT-β is now being studied as an important regulator of cell growth and differentiation and as a potential therapeutic target in cancer since PA is necessary for the activity of key proteins such as Raf, PKC-ζ and mTOR. In this report we determine the effect of LPAAT-β silencing with siRNA in pancreatic adenocarcinoma cell lines. We show for the first time that LPAAT-β knockdown inhibits proliferation and anchorage-independent growth of pancreatic cancer cells. This is associated with inhibition of signaling by mTOR as determined by levels of mTORC1- and mTORC2-specific phosphorylation sites on 4E-BP1, S6K and Akt. Since PA regulates the activity of mTOR by modulating its binding to FKBP38, we explored the possibility that LPAAT-β might regulate mTOR by affecting its association with FKBP38. Coimmunoprecipitation studies of FKBP38 with mTOR show increased levels of FKBP38 associated with mTOR when LPAAT-β protein levels are knocked down. Furthermore, depletion of LPAAT-β results in increased Lipin 1 nuclear localization which is associated with increased nuclear eccentricity, a nuclear shape change that is dependent on mTOR, further confirming the ability of LPAAT-β to regulate mTOR function. Our results provide support for the hypothesis that PA generated by LPAAT-β regulates mTOR signaling. We discuss the implications of these findings for using LPAAT-β as a therapeutic target.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Active Transport, Cell Nucleus
  • Acyltransferases / deficiency
  • Acyltransferases / genetics
  • Acyltransferases / metabolism*
  • Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing / metabolism
  • Adenocarcinoma / pathology
  • Base Sequence
  • Cell Cycle Proteins
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Nucleus / metabolism
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic / genetics
  • Gene Knockdown Techniques
  • Humans
  • Pancreatic Neoplasms / pathology
  • Phosphatidate Phosphatase / metabolism
  • Phosphatidic Acids / biosynthesis
  • Phosphoproteins / metabolism
  • Phosphorylation
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / metabolism
  • RNA, Small Interfering / genetics
  • Signal Transduction*
  • TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases / metabolism*

Substances

  • Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing
  • Cell Cycle Proteins
  • EIF4EBP1 protein, human
  • Phosphatidic Acids
  • Phosphoproteins
  • RNA, Small Interfering
  • Acyltransferases
  • 2-acylglycerophosphate acyltransferase
  • MTOR protein, human
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt
  • TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases
  • LPIN1 protein, human
  • Phosphatidate Phosphatase