Inhibition of mTOR enhances radiosensitivity of lung cancer cells and protects normal lung cells against radiation

Radiotherapy has been used for a long time as a standard therapy for cancer; however, there have been no recent research breakthroughs. Radioresistance and various side-effects lead to the unexpected outcomes of radiation therapy. Specific and accurate targeting as well as reduction of radioresistance have been major challenges for irradiation therapy. Recent studies have shown that rapamycin shows promise for inhibiting tumorigenesis by suppressing mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). We found that the combination of rapamycin with irradiation significantly diminished cell viability and colony formation, and increased cell apoptosis, as compared with irradiation alone in lung cancer cell line A549, suggesting that rapamycin can enhance the effectiveness of radiation therapy by sensitizing cancer cells to irradiation. Importantly, we observed that the adverse effects of irradiation on a healthy lung cell line (WI-38) were also offset. No enhanced protein expression of mTOR signaling was observed in WI-38 cells, which is normally elevated in lung cancer cells. Moreover, DNA damage was significantly less with the combination therapy than with irradiation therapy alone. Our data suggest that the incorporation of rapamycin during radiation therapy could be a potent way to improve the sensitivity and effectiveness of radiation therapy as well as to protect normal cells from being damaged by irradiation.

Effect of Acute Aerobic Exercise and Rapamycin Treatment on Autophagy in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells of Adults With Prediabetes

OBJECTIVES

Recently, a malfunction of the autophagic pathway has been implicated with impaired glucose metabolism and progression from prediabetes to type 2 diabetes. The aims of this study were to investigate the effect of exercise and rapamycin (RAPA) treatment on the autophagic process in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from people with prediabetes compared with control subjects.

METHODS

Two groups matched for age and sex served as participants and included 6 participants with prediabetes (42.4±11.7 years) and 6 control subjects (44.4±11.9 years). Participants exercised at 50% of maximal oxygen consumption for 60 min with 5 min of rest interspersed every 20 min. PBMCs were isolated pre-exercise, immediately postexercise and 4 h after exercise recovery. Additional PBMCs were incubated for 24 h and either exposed to bafilomycin, rapamycin with bafilomycin (RAPA), or no treatment with vehicle (dimethyl sulfoxide). Proteins and mRNA were analyzed via western blot and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, respectively.

RESULTS

Exercise increased autophagy immediately postexercise and recovered 4 h after exercise in control participants but not in participants with prediabetes. Autophagy increased in PBMCs from people with prediabetes and control participants after RAPA treatment; however, a significantly impaired autophagic response was observed in people with prediabetes when compared with control subjects.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results indicate an impairment in autophagic flux in PBMCs from people with prediabetes when compared with control subjects in response to both exercise and RAPA treatment. Future methods of autophagic upregulation should be investigated to spare malfunctions in autophagy in people with prediabetes.

mTORC1 inhibitors rapamycin and metformin affect cardiovascular markers differentially in ZDF rats

Mammalian target for rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) is a common target for the action of immunosuppressant macrolide rapamycin and glucose-lowering metformin. Inhibition of mTORC1 can exert both beneficial and detrimental effects in different pathologies. Here, we investigated the differential effects of rapamycin (1.2 mg/kg per day delivered subcutaneously for 6 weeks) and metformin (300 mg/kg per day delivered orally for 11 weeks) treatments on male Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats that mimic the cardiorenal pathology of type 2 diabetic patients and progress to insulin insufficiency. Rapamycin and metformin improved proteinuria, and rapamycin also reduced urinary gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT) indicating improvement of tubular health. Metformin reduced food and water intake, and urinary sodium and potassium, whereas rapamycin increased urinary sodium. Metformin reduced plasma alkaline phosphatase, but induced transaminitis as evidenced by significant increases in plasma AST and ALT. Metformin also induced hyperinsulinemia, but did not suppress fasting plasma glucose after ZDF rats reached 17 weeks of age, and worsened lipid profile. Rapamycin also induced mild transaminitis. Additionally, both rapamycin and metformin increased plasma uric acid and creatinine, biomarkers for cardiovascular and renal disease. These observations define how rapamycin and metformin differentially modulate metabolic profiles that regulate cardiorenal pathology in conditions of severe type 2 diabetes.

Genes responsive to rapamycin and serum deprivation are clustered on chromosomes and undergo reorganization within local chromatin environments

We previously demonstrated that genome reorganization, through chromosome territory repositioning, occurs concurrently with significant changes in gene expression in normal primary human fibroblasts treated with the drug rapamycin, or stimulated into quiescence. Although these events occurred concomitantly, it is unclear how specific changes in gene expression relate to reorganization of the genome at higher resolution. We used computational analyses, genome organization assays, and microscopy, to investigate the relationship between chromosome territory positioning and gene expression. We determined that despite relocation of chromosome territories, there was no substantial bias in the proportion of genes changing expression on any one chromosome, including chromosomes 10 and 18. Computational analyses identified that clusters of serum deprivation and rapamycin-responsive genes along the linear extent of chromosomes. Chromosome conformation capture (3C) analysis demonstrated the strengthening or loss of specific long-range chromatin interactions in response to rapamycin and quiescence induction, including a cluster of genes containing Interleukin-8 and several chemokine genes on chromosome 4. We further observed that the LIF gene, which is highly induced upon rapamycin treatment, strengthened interactions with up- and down-stream intergenic regions. Our findings indicate that the repositioning of chromosome territories in response to cell stimuli, this does not reflect gene expression changes occurring within physically clustered groups of genes.