Macropinocytosis of amino acids regulates T cell growth by promoting the sustained activation of mTORC1

Abstract

Abstract Macropinocytosis, a non-selective form of bulk endocytosis, has been associated with diverse processes in mammalian cells, including antigen presentation and regulation of receptor density. In Ras-transformed tumor cells, macropinocytosis of protein regulates growth when amino acids are limiting in the extracellular space. A requirement of macropinocytosis for the growth of non-transformed cells has not been described previously. Here we show that primary mouse and human T cells engage in constitutive macropinocytosis that is enhanced approximately three-fold in response to CD3/CD28 antibody stimulation. We further show that macropinocytosis is essential for the growth of CD3/CD28 antibody-stimulated T cells during the G1 phase of the cell cycle, even under amino acid-replete conditions. Macropinocytosis in activated T cells provides a means of access of extracellular amino acids to an endolysosomal compartment necessary for sustained activation of the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1), which in part explains its function in G1 growth. In addition, macropinocytosis promotes activated T cell growth by means other than activation of mTORC1, possibly by furnishing bulk substrates for anabolism and anaplerosis. Regulation of mammalian cell growth by macropinocytosis, therefore, is not limited to Ras-transformed tumor cells but may instead represent a more general means of promoting sustained mTORC1 activation in highly proliferative cells. These findings provide important new information upon the mechanisms by which T cells acquire nutrients for growth and suggest means by which T cell growth might be manipulated for therapeutic benefit.