The fructose-1, 6-bisphosphatase (FBPase), a key enzyme of gluconeogenic pathway, is rapidly inactivated and selectively turned over when ample glucose is supplied after glucose starvation
1-3. The catabolite degradation of FBPase effectively prevents the energy futile cycle between glycolysis and gluconeogenesis
1- 4. Depending on the culture conditions, there are two pathways for FBPase degradation: proteasome-dependent degradation and vacuole import and degradation (Vid) dependent pathway
3- 6. It is reported that in one day starvation, FBPase was conjugated with multi-ubiquitin chain at Lys 48 during its degradation; the 26S proteasome mutant
cim3-1blocked FBPase degradation at non-permissive temperature
4-6. In two-day or longer starvation condition, FPBase is degraded in vacuole, the homologue of lysosome of mammals
1,5.
The FBPase degradation via Vid pathway is one of an autophagic process in which long-lived proteins or cell organelles are engulfed in the membrane organelles and then targeted to vacuole for degradation
2, 7. Multiple proteins are involved in Vid pathway of FBPase degradation: this pathway shares components with endocytotic pathway such as V-ATPase complex and epsilon cop coatomer complex1 (COPI) subunits
8-9. When mutated in Stv1 or Vph1, the subunit of V-ATPase complex, FBPase degradation was blocked
8. When mutated in Sec28, the subunit of COPI, FBPase's association with Vid vesicles and its degradation were impaired
9. This pathway also required a unique protein Vid24, the protein marker of Vid vesicle, which functions in targeting FBPase containing vesicles to the vacuole
10.
Target of rapamycin (Tor), a conserved phosphatidylinositol 3-related protein kinase, plays pivotal roles in cell growth and cell metabolism
11-13. As a nutrition sensor, Tor proteins are highly conserved from yeast to mammals. In yeast, two Tor proteins form two functional distinct protein complexes: Tor Complex I (TORC1) and Tor Complex II (TORCII). TORCI contains unique components (Tor1 and TCO89) and shares components (Tor2, Lst8 and Kog1) with TORCII
14-15. Each component of TORC1 plays distinct but related functions
16-18. TORCI regulates protein synthesis, ribosome biogenesis, transcription and autophagy in response to the nutrition availability and energy status of cells, which are sensitive to rapamycin treatment
19-22.
To further investigate the mechanisms of Vid pathway, experiments have been performed to screen the yeast deletion library and GST fusion library
23. It has been identified a list of proteins that interact with and regulate FBPase degradation in this pathway. This study reported the role of TCO89, the subunit of TORCI, as a new component in FBPase degradation of Vid pathway. TCO89 was found to associate with FBPase and regulate FBPase degradation. The results showed that all other TORCI components associated with FBPase. Thus, this study also implicated a possible role for TORC1 in this pathway.