The role of mTORCs signaling in endothelial cell migration.

• Main Author: Liu, Shiyang.
• Other Authors: Koh Cheng Gee
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Science::Biological sciences::Molecular biology
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/53794
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a serine/ threonine kinase that functions as two distinct complexes, mTORC1 and mTORC2. Both of them have been shown to be involved in cell migration via different downstream effectors, among which Rho-family small GTPases play crucial roles. Endothelial cell migration is an integral part of angiogenesis, which is a vital process in various physiological and pathological conditions. However, few studies have been done to investigate the role of mTORCs signaling in endothelial cell migration and whether Rho-family small GTPases are involved in this process. In this study, we demonstrated that knockdown of raptor, a core component of mTORC1, reduced the migration of HUVECs, the lamellipodia formation and its Rac1 activity. However, knockdown of rictor, a core component of mTORC2, appeared to exert opposite effects on HUVECs motility: in wound healing assay, rictor depletion reduced the spontaneous motility of HUVECs; whereas, silencing rictor enhanced both spontaneous and induced HUVECs motility in transwell migration assay. Upregulated Rac1 activity and disrupted lamellipodia formation were also observed in rictor-knockdown HUVECs. In addition, a compensatory relationship between rictor and raptor in HUVECs was identified, which might further complicate the role of mTORCs signaling in endothelial cell migration.