Cited by 551PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling in cancerProtein Kinase Regulation and GTPase SignalingMetabolism, Diabetes, and Cancer

Mechanisms of mTORC1 activation by RHEB and inhibition by PRAS40

Open access
Yang, Haijuan, Jiang, Xiaolu, Li, Buren, Yang, Hyo J., Miller, Meredith, Yang, Angela, Dhar, Ankita, Pavletich, Nikola P.·2017·Nature

Abstract

The mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) controls cell growth and metabolism in response to nutrients, energy levels, and growth factors. It contains the atypical kinase mTOR and the RAPTOR subunit that binds to the Tor signalling sequence (TOS) motif of substrates and regulators. mTORC1 is activated by the small GTPase RHEB (Ras homologue enriched in brain) and inhibited by PRAS40. Here we present the 3.0 ångström cryo-electron microscopy structure of mTORC1 and the 3.4 ångström structure of activated RHEB-mTORC1. RHEB binds to mTOR distally from the kinase active site, yet causes a global conformational change that allosterically realigns active-site residues, accelerating catalysis. Cancer-associated hyperactivating mutations map to structural elements that maintain the inactive state, and we provide biochemical evidence that they mimic RHEB relieving auto-inhibition. We also present crystal structures of RAPTOR-TOS motif complexes that define the determinants of TOS recognition, of an mTOR FKBP12-rapamycin-binding (FRB) domain-substrate complex that establishes a second substrate-recruitment mechanism, and of a truncated mTOR-PRAS40 complex that reveals PRAS40 inhibits both substrate-recruitment sites. These findings help explain how mTORC1 selects its substrates, how its kinase activity is controlled, and how it is activated by cancer-associated mutations.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1038/nature25023

Cites

55 of 55 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Cross-linking of mTORC1 in the presence of RhebGTPgS and 4EBP1 yielded the cryo-EM structure of mTORC1 bound to Rheb.

    “Cross-linking of mTORC1 in the presence of RhebGTPgS and 4EBP1, another well-known mTORC1 substrate (Burnett et al., 1998), yielded the cryo-EM structure of mTORC1 bound to Rheb (Yang et al., 2017).”

    From Signal integration in the (m)TORC1 growth pathway (2018) · cites this paper as Yang et al., 2017

  • Density corresponding to Rheb was observed at the N-terminal portions of the N-HEAT, M-HEAT and FAT domains, resulting in a four-way interface where Rheb switch I residues bound the M-HEAT solenoid and FAT domain, and switch II formed contacts with all three mTORC1 domains.

    “Density corresponding to Rheb was observed at the N-terminal portions of the N- HEAT, M-HEAT and FAT domains, thereby resulting in a four-way interface where Rheb switch I residues bound the M-HEAT solenoid and FAT domain, and switch II formed contacts with all three mTORC1 domains.”

    From Signal integration in the (m)TORC1 growth pathway (2018) · cites this paper as Yang et al., 2017

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 5

  1. [1]Yang H mTOR kinase structure, mechanism and regulation Nature 497 217 223 2013 23636326 PMC4512754
  2. [2]Choi J Chen J Schreiber SL Clardy J Structure of the FKBP12-rapamycin complex interacting with the binding domain of human FRAP Science 273 239 242 1996 8662507
  3. [4]Brown A Tools for macromolecular model building and refinement into electron cryo-microscopy reconstructions Acta Crystallogr D Biol Crystallogr 71 136 153 2015 25615868 PMC4304694
  4. [5]Kim DH mTOR interacts with raptor to form a nutrient-sensitive complex that signals to the cell growth machinery Cell 110 163 175 2002 12150925
  5. [6]Grabiner BC A diverse array of cancer-associated MTOR mutations are hyperactivating and can predict rapamycin sensitivity Cancer discovery 4 554 563 2014 24631838 PMC4012430

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Yang, H., Jiang, X., Li, B., Yang, H. J., Miller, M., Yang, A., Dhar, A., & Pavletich, N. P.
Affiliations
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (US)
Corresponding author
Pavletich, Nikola P.
Venue
Nature
Published
2017-12
Volume
552
Issue
7685
Pages
368-373
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
OpenAlex
W2773300145
Cited by
548
References
55
Citations by year
2026: 55 · 2025: 65 · 2024: 68 · 2023: 66 · 2022: 63 · 2021: 80 · 2020: 74 · 2019: 53 · 2018: 23
FWCI
16.78
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) (submittedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute
  • Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (CA008748)
  • National Institutes of Health (CA008748)
  • National Cancer Institute (P30CA008748)
  • National Institute of General Medical Sciences (P41GM103310, R01GM064644)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling in cancer
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Protein Kinase Regulation and GTPase Signaling
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Metabolism, Diabetes, and Cancer
Keywords
mTORC1, Rheb, PRAS40, allosteric activation, allosteric inhibition, raptors, substrate recognition, cancer-associated mutations, mTOR hyperactivation, protein complex structure, cell growth regulation
MeSH terms
Protein Domains, Ras Homolog Enriched in Brain Protein, Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 1, Regulatory-Associated Protein of mTOR, Binding Sites, Enzyme Activation, Humans, Models, Molecular, Mutation, Neoplasms, Protein Binding, Substrate Specificity, Signal Transduction, Crystallography, X-Ray, Sirolimus, Catalytic Domain, Cryoelectron Microscopy, Amino Acid Motifs, Tacrolimus Binding Protein 1A, Ribosomal Protein S6 Kinases, 70-kDa, Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing, Biocatalysis

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review