The target of rapamycin (TOR) kinase is found at the core of two evolutionarily conserved complexes known as TOR complexes 1 and 2 (TORC1 and TORC2). In fission yeast, TORC2 is dispensable for proliferation under optimal growth conditions but is required for starvation and stress responses. We have previously reported that loss of function of TORC2 renders cells highly sensitive to DNA replication stress; however, the mechanism underlying this sensitivity is unknown. TORC2 has one known direct substrate, the kinase Gad8, which is related to AKT in human cells. Here we show that both TORC2 and its substrate Gad8 are found in the nucleus and are bound to the chromatin. We also demonstrate that Gad8 physically interacts with the MluI cell cycle box-binding factor (MBF) transcription complex that regulates the G 1 /S progression and the response to DNA stress. In mutant cells lacking TORC2 or Gad8, the binding of the MBF complex to its cognate promoters is compromised, and the induction of MBF target genes in response to DNA replication stress is reduced. Consistently, the protein levels of Cdt2 and Cig2, two MBF target genes, are reduced in the absence of TORC2-Gad8 signaling. Taken together, our findings highlight critical functions of TORC2 in the nucleus and suggest a role in surviving DNA replication stress via transcriptional regulation of MBF target genes.
Target of rapamycin (TOR)2 is an atypical protein kinase that was isolated as the target of the immunosuppressive and anticancer drug rapamycin. TOR proteins play a central role in growth, proliferation, and survival and can be found in two distinct and evolutionarily conserved complexes, TORC1 and TORC2 (1-3). The two TOR complexes are key regulators of cellular growth; however, they respond to different stimuli and phosphorylate distinct sets of protein substrates (1-3). Human cells contain a single TOR protein, known as mTOR, which functions as the catalytic subunit of both mTORC1 and mTORC2. In the fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, there are two genes encoding for TOR proteins. Tor1 interacts with Ste20 (Rictor in human cells) and Sin1 (mSin1 in human cells) to form TORC2, whereas Tor2 interacts with Mip1 (Raptor in human cells) to form TORC1 (4). TORC1 is essential for growth in S. pombe and plays a critical role in regulating the switch between growth and sexual development in response to nitrogen starvation. Consistently, disruption of S. pombe TORC1 results in many features characteristic of nitrogenstarved cells (5-8), and TORC1-dependent phosphorylation of the small ribosomal protein Rps6 is diminished under nitrogen starvation (9).S. pombe TORC2 is not essential for growth but is required for cell survival under a wide variety of stress conditions, including high or low temperatures, oxidative or osmotic stress, and DNA damage or replication stresses (10, 11). TORC2 is also essential for entrance into a stationary (G 0 -like) phase and sexual development, two processes that occur in response to nutritional starvation. Under normal growth ...