Superhero Rictor promotes cellular differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells

Cell Death and Differentiation
Youming ZhuDuohong Zou

Abstract

Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) hold great promise for regenerative medicine. To harness the full therapeutic potential of ESCs, better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the maintenance and differentiation of ESCs is required. Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a serine/threonine protein kinase that integrates growth factor receptor signaling with cellular growth and proliferation. Dysregulation of mTOR signaling has been linked to various human diseases including cancer and metabolic syndromes. However, little is known regarding the function of mTOR signaling in the regulation of ES cell differentiation. Here we report that Rictor, a key component of mTORC2, functions as a novel ES cell differentiation promoting factor. Mechanistically, Rictor is able to interact with Prkch and facilitate Prkch phosphorylation at Ser-642. Upon phosphorylation, Prkch promotes Klf4 phosphorylation and inhibits Klf4-dependent E-cadherin expression, thereafter leading to the ES cell differentiation. These findings reveal a novel Rictor-Prkch-Klf4 pathway that plays an important role in the regulation of ES cell differentiation.

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Citations

Jun 5, 2020·Journal of Receptor and Signal Transduction Research·Zengjun XieLiang Zhao
Jun 26, 2020·Journal of Receptor and Signal Transduction Research·David Mui, Ying Zhang

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
affinity purification
co-immunoprecipitation
transfection
ChIP
PCR
immunoprecipitation

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