Ser2481-autophosphorylated mTOR colocalizes with chromosomal passenger proteins during mammalian cell cytokinesis.

Energy- and nutrient-sensing proteins such as AMPK, mTOR and S6K1 are now recognized as novel regulators of mitotic completion in proliferating cells. We investigated the cellular distribution of the Ser2481 autophosphorylation of mTOR, which directly monitors mTORC-specific catalytic activity, during mammalian cell mitosis and cytokinesis. Automated immunofluorescence experiments in human carcinoma cell lines revealed that phospho-mTOR (Ser2481) exhibited profound spatial and temporal dynamics during cell division. Phospho-mTOR (Ser2481) was strikingly enriched in mitotic cells, and in prophase, bright phospho-mTOR (Ser2481) staining could be clearly observed among condensed chromosomes. Phospho-mTOR (Ser2481) then redistributes from diffuse cytosolic staining that partially colocalizes with the mitotic spindle during the early phases of mitosis to the furrow at the onset of cytokinesis. Like the bona fide chromosomal passenger proteins (CPPs) INCENP and Aurora B, phospho-mTOR (Ser2481) displayed noteworthy accumulation in the central spindle midzone and the midbody regions, which persisted during the furrowing process. Accordingly, double-staining experiments confirmed that phospho-mTOR (Ser2481) largely colocalized with CCPs in the midbodies. The CPP-like mitotic localization of phospho-mTOR (Ser2481) was fully prevented by the microtubule-depolymerizing drug nocodazole; mitotic traveling of phospho-mTOR (Ser2481) to the midbody during telophase and cytokinesis, where it appears to be integrated into the CPP-driven cytokinetic machinery, may therefore require dynamic microtubules. Although the Ser2448-phosphorylated form of mTOR was also found at high levels during M-phase in human cancer cells, we failed to observe a significant association of phospho-mTOR (Ser2448) with CCP-positive mitotic and cytokinetic structures. Our findings add phospho-mTOR (Ser2481) to the growing list of phospho-active forms of proteins belonging to the AMPK/mTOR/S6K1 signaling axis that reside at the mitotic and cytokinetic apparatus. Future studies should elucidate how the specific ability of phospho-mTOR (Ser2481) to spatially and temporally couple to the cleavage furrow and midbody region as a CPP-like protein can signal to or from adjacent signaling complexes and/or with the basic machinery of cell abscission.

Inhibitor of Apoptosis (IAP) survivin is indispensable for survival of HER2 gene-amplified breast cancer cells with primary resistance to HER1/2-targeted therapies.

Primary resistance of HER2 gene-amplified breast carcinomas (BC) to HER-targeted therapies can be explained in terms of overactive HER2-independent downstream pro-survival pathways. We here confirm that constitutive overexpression of Inhibitor of Apoptosis (IAP) survivin is indispensable for survival of HER2-positive BC cells with intrinsic cross-resistance to multiple HER1/2 inhibitors. The IC50 values for the HER1/2 Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKIs) gefitinib, erlotinib and lapatinib were up to 40-fold higher in trastuzumab-unresponsive JIMT-1 cells than in trastuzumab-naïve SKBR3 cells. ELISA-based and immunoblotting assays demonstrated that trastuzumab-refractory JIMT-1 cells constitutively expressed ~ 4 times more survivin protein than trastuzumab-responsive SKBR3 cells. In response to trastuzumab, JIMT-1 cells accumulated ~10 times more survivin than SKBR3 cells. HER1/2 TKIs failed to down-regulate survivin expression in JIMT-1 cells whereas equimolar doses of HER1/HER2 TKIs drastically depleted survivin protein in SKBR3 cells. ELISA-based detection of histone-associated DNA fragments confirmed that trastuzumab-refractory JIMT-1 cells were intrinsically protected against the apoptotic effects of HER1/2 TKIs. Of note, when we knocked-down survivin expression using siRNA and then added trastuzumab, cell proliferation and colony formation were completely suppressed in JIMT-1 cells. Our current findings may be extremely helpful to design successful combinatorial strategies aimed to circumvent the occurrence of de novo resistance to HER2-directed drugs using survivin antagonists.