mTOR serves as a central regulator of cell growth and metabolism by forming two distinct complexes, mTORC1 and mTORC2. Although mechanisms of mTORC1 activation by growth factors and amino acids have been extensively studied, the upstream regulatory mechanisms leading to mTORC2 activation remain largely elusive. Here, we report that the PH domain of Sin1, an essential and unique component of mTORC2, interacts with the mTOR kinase domain to suppress mTOR activity. More importantly, PtdIns(3,4,5)P3, but not other PtdInsPn species, interacts with Sin1-PH to release its inhibition on the mTOR kinase domain, thereby triggering mTORC2 activation. Mutating critical Sin1 residues that mediate PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 interaction inactivates mTORC2, whereas mTORC2 activity is pathologically increased by patient-derived mutations in the Sin1-PH domain, promoting cell growth and tumor formation. Together, our study unravels a PI3K-dependent mechanism for mTORC2 activation, allowing mTORC2 to activate Akt in a manner that is regulated temporally and spatially by PtdIns(3,4,5)P3.

Summary The activities of both mTORC1 and mTORC2 are negatively regulated by their endogenous inhibitor, DEPTOR. As such, the abundance of DEPTOR is a critical determinant in the activity status of the mTOR network. DEPTOR stability is governed by the 26S-proteasome through a largely unknown mechanism. Here we describe an mTOR-dependent phosphorylation-driven pathway for DEPTOR destruction via SCFβ-TRCP. DEPTOR phosphorylation by mTOR in response to growth signals, and in collaboration with casein kinase I (CKI), generates a phosphodegron that binds β-TRCP. Failure to degrade DEPTOR through either degron mutation or β-TRCP depletion leads to reduced mTOR activity, reduced S6 kinase activity, and activation of autophagy to reduce cell growth. This work expands the current understanding of mTOR regulation by revealing a positive feedback loop involving mTOR and CKI-dependent turnover of its inhibitor, DEPTOR, suggesting that misregulation of the DEPTOR destruction pathway might contribute to aberrant activation of mTOR in disease.

Deregulated Skp2 function promotes cell transformation, and this is consistent with observations of Skp2 over-expression in many human cancers. However, the mechanisms underlying elevated Skp2 expression remain elusive. Here we report that the serine/threonine protein kinase Akt1, but not Akt2, directly controls Skp2 stability by a mechanism that involves degradation by the APC/Cdh1 ubiquitin ligase complex. We further show that Akt1 phosphorylates Skp2 at Ser72, which is required to disrupt the interaction between Cdh1 and Skp2. In addition, we show that Ser72 is localized within a putative Nuclear Localization Sequence (NLS) and that phosphorylation of Ser72 by Akt leads to Skp2 cytoplasmic translocation. This finding expands our knowledge of how specific signaling kinase cascades influence proteolysis governed by APC/Cdh1 complexes, and provides evidence that elevated Akt activity and cytoplasmic Skp2 expression may be causative for cancer progression.