Depletion of Rictor, an essential protein component of mTORC2, decreases male lifespan.

Aging Cell
Authors
Keywords
Abstract

Rapamycin, an inhibitor of the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR), robustly extends the lifespan of model organisms including mice. We recently found that chronic treatment with rapamycin not only inhibits mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1), the canonical target of rapamycin, but also inhibits mTOR complex 2 (mTORC2) in vivo. While genetic evidence strongly suggests that inhibition of mTORC1 is sufficient to promote longevity, the impact of mTORC2 inhibition on mammalian longevity has not been assessed. RICTOR is a protein component of mTORC2 that is essential for its activity. We examined three different mouse models of Rictor loss: mice heterozygous for Rictor, mice lacking hepatic Rictor, and mice in which Rictor was inducibly deleted throughout the body in adult animals. Surprisingly, we find that depletion of RICTOR significantly decreases male, but not female, lifespan. While the mechanism by which RICTOR loss impairs male survival remains obscure, we find that the effect of RICTOR depletion on lifespan is independent of the role of hepatic mTORC2 in promoting glucose tolerance. Our results suggest that inhibition of mTORC2 signaling is detrimental to males, which may explain in part why interventions that decrease mTOR signaling show greater efficacy in females.

Year of Publication
2014
Journal
Aging Cell
Volume
13
Issue
5
Pages
911-7
Date Published
2014 Oct
ISSN
1474-9726
URL
DOI
10.1111/acel.12256
PubMed ID
25059582
PubMed Central ID
PMC4172536
Links
Grant list
R00 AG041765 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States
K99 AG045144 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States
Howard Hughes Medical Institute / United States
R00 AG045144 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States
K99 AG041765 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States