Cited by 77Pregnancy and preeclampsia studiesPI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling in cancerMitochondrial Function and Pathology

Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 1 Promotes the Expression of Genes Encoding Electron Transport Chain Proteins and Stimulates Oxidative Phosphorylation in Primary Human Trophoblast Cells by Regulating Mitochondrial Biogenesis

Open access
Rosario, Fredrick J., Gupta, Madhulika B., Myatt, Leslie, Powell, Theresa L., Glenn, Jeremy P., Cox, Laura, Jansson, Thomas·2019·Scientific Reports

Abstract

Trophoblast oxidative phosphorylation provides energy for active transport and protein synthesis, which are critical placental functions influencing fetal growth and long-term health. The molecular mechanisms regulating trophoblast mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation are largely unknown. We hypothesized that mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 1 (mTORC1) is a positive regulator of key genes encoding Electron Transport Chain (ETC) proteins and stimulates oxidative phosphorylation in trophoblast and that ETC protein expression is down-regulated in placentas of infants with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). We silenced raptor (mTORC1 inhibition), rictor (mTORC2 inhibition) or DEPTOR (mTORC1/2 activation) in cultured term primary human trophoblast (PHT) cells. mTORC1 inhibition caused a coordinated down-regulation of 18 genes encoding ETC proteins representing all ETC complexes. Inhibition of mTORC1, but not mTORC2, decreased protein expression of ETC complexes I–IV, mitochondrial basal, ATP coupled and maximal respiration, reserve capacity and proton leak, whereas activation of mTORC1 had the opposite effects. Moreover, placental protein expression of ETC complexes was decreased and positively correlated to mTOR signaling activity in IUGR. By controlling trophoblast ATP production, mTORC1 links nutrient and O 2 availability and growth factor signaling to placental function and fetal growth. Reduced placental mTOR activity may impair mitochondrial respiration and contribute to placental insufficiency in IUGR pregnancies.

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/s41598-018-36265-8

Cites

60 of 60 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?

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

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Rosario, F. J., Gupta, M. B., Myatt, L., Powell, T. L., Glenn, J. P., Cox, L., & Jansson, T.
Affiliations
  • University of Colorado Anschutz (US)
  • Western University (CA)
  • Oregon Health & Science University (US)
  • Texas Biomedical Research Institute (US)
Corresponding author
Rosario, Fredrick J.
Venue
Scientific Reports
Published
2019-01-22
Volume
9
Issue
1
Pages
246-246
ISSN
2045-2322 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2914253295
Cited by
77
References
59
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 1
FWCI
11.16
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Scientific Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
  • Scholarship@Western (Western University) (submittedVersion)
Funders
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01HD68370)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Obstetrics and Gynecology › Pregnancy and preeclampsia studies
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling in cancer
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Mitochondrial Function and Pathology
Keywords
mTORC1, mTORC2, DEPTOR, trophoblast, electron transport chain, oxidative phosphorylation, mitochondrial biogenesis, fetal growth restriction, placental insufficiency, mitochondrial respiration, raptors, Rictor, placenta, fetal growth
MeSH terms
Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 1, Regulatory-Associated Protein of mTOR, Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 2, Rapamycin-Insensitive Companion of mTOR Protein, Adult, Organelle Biogenesis, Cells, Cultured, Electron Transport, Female, Fetal Growth Retardation, Humans, Mitochondria, Oxidative Phosphorylation, Placental Insufficiency, Pregnancy, Trophoblasts, Signal Transduction, Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental, RNA Interference, Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins, Young Adult, Primary Cell Culture

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