The TORC1 phosphoproteome in C. elegans reveals roles in transcription and autophagy

Aileen K Sewell; Zachary C Poss; Christopher C Ebmeier; Jeremy R Jacobsen; William M Old; Min Han

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2022.104186

The TORC1 phosphoproteome in C. elegans reveals roles in transcription and autophagy

iScience. 2022 Mar 31;25(5):104186. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104186. eCollection 2022 May 20.

Authors

Aileen K Sewell¹, Zachary C Poss¹, Christopher C Ebmeier¹, Jeremy R Jacobsen¹, William M Old¹, Min Han¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0347, USA.

Abstract

The protein kinase complex target of rapamycin complex 1 (TORC1) is a critical mediator of nutrient sensing that has been widely studied in cultured cells and yeast, yet our understanding of the regulatory activities of TORC1 in the context of a whole, multi-cellular organism is still very limited. Using Caenorhabditis elegans, we analyzed the DAF-15/Raptor-dependent phosphoproteome by quantitative mass spectrometry and characterized direct kinase targets by in vitro kinase assays. Here, we show new targets of TORC1 that indicate previously unknown regulation of transcription and autophagy. Our results further show that DAF-15/Raptor is differentially expressed during postembryonic development, suggesting a dynamic role for TORC1 signaling throughout the life span. This study provides a comprehensive view of the TORC1 phosphoproteome, reveals more than 100 DAF-15/Raptor-dependent phosphosites that reflect the complex function of TORC1 in a whole, multi-cellular organism, and serves as a rich resource to the field.

Keywords: Cell biology; Developmental biology; Functional aspects of cell biology; Omics; Proteomics.