Sphingomyelin in microdomains of the plasma membrane regulates amino acid-stimulated mTOR signal activation.

Sphingomyelin (SM) is required for cells to proliferate, but the reason is not fully understood. In order to asses this question, we employed a cell line, ZS, which lacks both SMS1 and SMS2, isolated from mouse embryonic fibroblasts in SMS1 and 2 double knockout mouse, and SMS1 or SMS2 re-expressing cells, ZS/SMS1 or ZS/SMS2, respectively. We investigated regulation of SM in activating the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signal induced by essential amino acids (EAA), using these cells. EAA-stimulated mTOR signal was more activated in ZS/SMS1 and ZS/SMS2 cells than in controls. Treatment with methyl-b-cyclodextrin dramatically inhibited the activation. Interestingly, we found that the expression of CD98, LAT-1 and ASCT-2, amino acid transporters concerned with mTOR activation, was down-regulated in ZS cells. Transporters localized in microdomains and formed a functional complex. Our results indicate that SM affect proliferation through the transport of amino acids via SM-enriched microdomains.