The ERK1/2 and mTORC1 Signaling Pathways Are Involved in the Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor-Mediated Proliferation of SNU-407 Colon Cancer Cells.

Muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) regulate diverse cellular functions, including cell growth and proliferation, via multiple signaling pathways. Previously, we showed that mAChRs stimulate the MEK1/2-ERK1/2-RSK pathway in SNU-407 colon cancer cells and subsequently promote cell proliferation. In this study, we provide evidence that the PI3K-Akt-mTORC1-S6K1 pathway is activated by mAChRs in SNU-407 cells and that this pathway is associated with protein biosynthesis and cell proliferation. When the cells were treated with the cholinergic agonist carbachol, Akt was activated in a dose- and time-dependent fashion. This carbachol effect was almost completely blocked by the PI3K inhibitor LY294002, implying that PI3K is responsible for the Akt activation. S6K1, a major downstream target of mTORC1, was also activated by carbachol in a temporal profile similar to that of the Akt activation. This carbachol-stimulated S6K1 activation was abrogated by LY294002 or the mTORC1 inhibitor rapamycin, supporting the notion that mAChRs mediate S6K1 activation via the PI3K-Akt-mTORC1 pathway. We observed that global protein biosynthesis, monitored by puromycin incorporation, was strongly increased by carbachol in an atropine-sensitive manner. Inhibition experiments indicated that the ERK1/2 and mTORC1 signaling pathways may be involved in carbachol-stimulated global protein biosynthesis. We also found that treating SNU-407 cells with LY294002 or rapamycin significantly suppressed carbachol-stimulated cell proliferation. In the presence of the MEK1/2 inhibitor U0126, cell proliferation was further reduced by rapamycin treatment. Our data thus suggest that both the MEK1/2-ERK1/2 and mTORC1 pathways play important roles in mAChR-mediated cell proliferation in SNU-407 colon cancer cells. J. Cell. Biochem. 117: 2854-2863, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.