Mice Deficient in Ribosomal Protein S6 Phosphorylation Suffer from Muscle Weakness that Reflects a Growth Defect and Energy Deficit

BACKGROUND: Mice, whose ribosomal protein S6 cannot be phosphorylated due to replacement of all five phosphorylatable serine residues by alanines (rpS6(P-/-)), are viable and fertile. However, phenotypic characterization of these mice and embryo fibroblasts derived from them, has established the role of these modifications in the regulation of the size of several cell types, as well as pancreatic beta-cell function and glucose homeostasis. A relatively passive behavior of these mice has raised the possibility that they suffer from muscle weakness, which has, indeed, been confirmed by a variety of physical performance tests. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A large variety of experimental methodologies, including morphometric measurements of histological preparations, high throughput proteomic analysis, positron emission tomography (PET) and numerous biochemical assays, were used in an attempt to establish the mechanism underlying the relative weakness of rpS6(P-/-) muscles. Collectively, these experiments have demonstrated that the physical inferiority appears to result from two defects: a) a decrease in total muscle mass that reflects impaired growth, rather than aberrant differentiation of myofibers, as well as a diminished abundance of contractile proteins; and b) a reduced content of ATP and phosphocreatine, two readily available energy sources. The abundance of three mitochondrial proteins has been shown to diminish in the knockin mouse. However, the apparent energy deficiency in this genotype does not result from a lower mitochondrial mass or compromised activity of enzymes of the oxidative phosphorylation, nor does it reflect a decline in insulin-dependent glucose uptake, or diminution in storage of glycogen or triacylglycerol (TG) in the muscle. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This study establishes rpS6 phosphorylation as a determinant of muscle strength through its role in regulation of myofiber growth and energy content. Interestingly, a similar role has been assigned for ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1, even though it regulates myoblast growth in an rpS6 phosphorylation-independent fashion

Mice deficient in ribosomal protein S6 phosphorylation suffer from muscle weakness that reflects a growth defect and energy deficit. PLoS One

Abstract Background: Mice, whose ribosomal protein S6 cannot be phosphorylated due to replacement of all five phosphorylatable serine residues by alanines (rpS6 P2/2 ), are viable and fertile. However, phenotypic characterization of these mice and embryo fibroblasts derived from them, has established the role of these modifications in the regulation of the size of several cell types, as well as pancreatic b-cell function and glucose homeostasis. A relatively passive behavior of these mice has raised the possibility that they suffer from muscle weakness, which has, indeed, been confirmed by a variety of physical performance tests

Oxygen sufficiency controls TOP mRNA translation via the TSC-Rheb-mTOR pathway in a 4E-BP-independent manner

Cells encountering hypoxic stress conserve resources and energy by downregulating the protein synthesis. Here we demonstrate that one mechanism in this response is the translational repression of TOP mRNAs that encode components of the translational apparatus. This mode of regulation involves TSC and Rheb, as knockout of TSC1 or TSC2 or overexpression of Rheb rescued TOP mRNA translation in oxygen-deprived cells. Stress-induced translational repression of these mRNAs closely correlates with the hypophosphorylated state of 4E-BP, a translational repressor. However, a series of 4E-BP loss- and gain-of-function experiments disprove a cause-and-effect relationship between the phosphorylation status of 4E-BP and the translational repression of TOP mRNAs under oxygen or growth factor deprivation. Furthermore, the repressive effect of anoxia is similar to that attained by the very efficient inhibition of mTOR activity by Torin 1, but much more pronounced than raptor or rictor knockout. Likewise, deficiency of raptor or rictor, even though it mildly downregulated basal translation efficiency of TOP mRNAs, failed to suppress the oxygen-mediated translational activation of TOP mRNAs. Finally, co-knockdown of TIA-1 and TIAR, two RNA-binding proteins previously implicated in translational repression of TOP mRNAs in amino acid-starved cells, failed to relieve TOP mRNA translation under other stress conditions. Thus, the nature of the proximal translational regulator of TOP mRNAs remains elusive

The TSC-mTOR Pathway Mediates Translational Activation of TOP mRNAs by Insulin Largely in a Raptor- or Rictor-Independent Manner▿ ‡

The stimulatory effect of insulin on protein synthesis is due to its ability to activate various translation factors. We now show that insulin can increase protein synthesis capacity also by translational activation of TOP mRNAs encoding various components of the translation machinery. This translational activation involves the tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), as the knockout of TSC1 or TSC2 rescues TOP mRNAs from translational repression in mitotically arrested cells. Similar results were obtained upon overexpression of Rheb, an immediate TSC1-TSC2 target. The role of mTOR, a downstream effector of Rheb, in translational control of TOP mRNAs has been extensively studied, albeit with conflicting results. Even though rapamycin fully blocks mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) kinase activity, the response of TOP mRNAs to this drug varies from complete resistance to high sensitivity. Here we show that mTOR knockdown blunts the translation efficiency of TOP mRNAs in insulin-treated cells, thus unequivocally establishing a role for mTOR in this mode of regulation. However, knockout of the raptor or rictor gene has only a slight effect on the translation efficiency of these mRNAs, implying that mTOR exerts its effect on TOP mRNAs through a novel pathway with a minor, if any, contribution of the canonical mTOR complexes mTORC1 and mTORC2. This conclusion is further supported by the observation that raptor knockout renders the translation of TOP mRNAs rapamycin hypersensitive

Reassessment of the role of TSC, mTORC1 and microRNAs in amino acids-meditated translational control of TOP mRNAs.

TOP mRNAs encode components of the translational apparatus, and repression of their translation comprises one mechanism, by which cells encountering amino acid deprivation downregulate the biosynthesis of the protein synthesis machinery. This mode of regulation involves TSC as knockout of TSC1 or TSC2 rescued TOP mRNAs translation in amino acid-starved cells. The involvement of mTOR in translational control of TOP mRNAs is demonstrated by the ability of constitutively active mTOR to relieve the translational repression of TOP mRNA upon amino acid deprivation. Consistently, knockdown of this kinase as well as its inhibition by pharmacological means blocked amino acid-induced translational activation of these mRNAs. The signaling of amino acids to TOP mRNAs involves RagB, as overexpression of active RagB derepressed the translation of these mRNAs in amino acid-starved cells. Nonetheless, knockdown of raptor or rictor failed to suppress translational activation of TOP mRNAs by amino acids, suggesting that mTORC1 or mTORC2 plays a minor, if any, role in this mode of regulation. Finally, miR10a has previously been suggested to positively regulate the translation of TOP mRNAs. However, we show here that titration of this microRNA failed to downregulate the basal translation efficiency of TOP mRNAs. Moreover, Drosha knockdown or Dicer knockout, which carries out the first and second processing steps in microRNAs biosynthesis, respectively, failed to block the translational activation of TOP mRNAs by amino acid or serum stimulation. Evidently, these results are questioning the positive role of microRNAs in this mode of regulation

Newly formed myofibers are smaller in a rpS6^P−/− muscle.

<p>(A) Sections of tibialis anterior of 2-mo-old rpS6^P+/+ and rpS6^P−/− mice were prepared 5 days after cryoinjury, and were immunostained for eMHC. One representative section is presented. (B) Enlargement of the framed area in (A). (C) Digital images of the immunostained sections were used for measurement of CSA of individual eMHC-positive myofibers, as described in “Experimental Procedures”. The average CSA of rpS6^P−/− myofibers (n = 327) was normalized to that of their wild type counterparts (n = 210), which was arbitrarily set at 1. The results are presented as average±SEM. *, p<0.0001.</p

Insulin-induced signaling and glucose uptake are similar in rpS6^P−/− and rpS6^p+/+ muscles.

<p>(A) Soleus muscles were excised from rpS6^P−/− (−/−) and rpS6^p+/+ (WT) 2- to 3-mo-old male mice following 16 h starvation and intraperitoneal injection of saline (−) or 2.5 U of insulin/kg of body weight (+) for 5 min. Cytoplasmic extracts were subjected to Western blot analysis with the indicated antibodies. Note the enrichment for the upper band of 4E-BP1 (hyperphosphorylated form) upon insulin treatment. (B) Insulin-induced uptake of glucose into isolated muscle. Right and left soleus muscles were isolated from the hind limbs of 16 h starved rpS6^P−/− (−/−) and rpS6^p+/+ (WT) male mice. 2-Deoxy glucose uptake is presented as µmol per gram tissue per h. The data are presented as average±SEM for 5 rpS6^P−/− and 4 S6^p+/+ age-matched (7–9 weeks) male mice. (C) Mice were injected intraperitoneally with 0.25 U insulin/kg body weight and within seconds with 10–24 Ci [¹⁸F]fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (FDG) into the tail vein. The radioactivity concentration in hind limb muscles was estimated at 40 to 45 min after FDG injection by positron emission tomography. The concentration of radioactivity is presented as % injected dose (ID) per gm body weight per ml tissue. The data are shown as average±SEM for 5 male mice of each genotype.</p

Stores of glycogen and triacylglycerol are larger and similar, respectively, in rpS6^P−/− muscle.

<p>(A) Soleus glycogen content. Soleus muscles were excised from 20 rpS6^P+/+ (WT) and 15 age-matched rpS6^P−/− (−/−) male mice and their glycogen content was measured. (B) Glycogen synthase (GS) and (C) glycogen phosphorylase (GP) activities were assayed in the same extracts (n = 4 age-matched male mice for each genotype). (D) and (E) TG content in soleus and gastrocnemious, respectively. 5 soleus (left and right muscles were pooled) and 10 individual gastrocnemious muscles were excised from 5 rpS6^P+/+ (WT) and 5 age-matched rpS6^P−/− (−/−) male mice and their TG content was measured. All results are presented as average±SEM.</p