Abstract
The amino acid glutamine plays an important role in cell growth and proliferation. Reliance on glutamine has long been considered a hallmark of highly proliferating cancer cells. Development of strategies for cancer therapy that primarily target glutamine metabolism has been an active area of research. Glutamine depletion is associated with growth arrest and apoptosis-induced cell death; however, the molecular mechanisms involved in this process are not clearly understood. Here, we show that glutamine depletion activates the energetic stress AMPK pathway and inhibits mTORC1 activity. Furthermore, inhibition of mTORC1 reduces the protein levels of β-TrCP, resulting in aberrant cell cycle progression and reduced proliferation. In agreement with the role of β-TrCP in glutamine metabolism, knockdown of β-TrCP resulted in proliferation and cell cycle defects similar to those observed for glutamine depletion. In summary, our results provide mechanistic insights into the role of glutamine metabolism in regulation of cell growth and proliferation via β-TrCP, uncovering a previously undescribed molecular process involved in glutamine metabolism.