Differential effects of the two amino acid sensing systems, the GCN2 kinase and the mTOR complex 1, on primary human alloreactive CD4+ T-cells

Amino acid deprivation activates general control nonderepressible 2 (GCN2) kinase and inhibits mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), affecting the immune response. In this study, the effects of GCN2 kinase activation or mTOR inhibition on human alloreactive CD4+ T-cells were evaluated. The mixed lymphocyte reaction, as a model of alloreactivity, the GCN2 kinase activator, tryptophanol (TRP), and the mTOR complex 1 inhibitor, rapamycin (RAP), were used. Both TRP and RAP suppressed cell proliferation and induced cell apoptosis. These events were p53-independent in the case of RAP, but were accompanied by an increase in p53 levels in the case of TRP. TRP decreased the levels of the Th2 signature transcription factor, GATA-3, as RAP did, yet the latter also decreased the levels of the Th1 and Th17 signature transcription factors, T-bet and RORγt, whereas it increased the levels of the Treg signature transcription factor, FoxP3. Accordingly, TRP decreased the production of interleukin (IL)-4, as RAP did, but RAP also decreased the levels of interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and IL-17. Both TRP and RAP increased the levels of IL-10. As regards hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), which upregulates the Th17/Treg ratio, its levels were decreased by RAP. TRP increased the HIF-1α levels, which however, remained inactive. In conclusion, our findings indicate that, in primary human alloreactive CD4+ T-cells, the two systems that sense amino acid deprivation affect cell proliferation, apoptosis and differentiation in different ways or through different mechanisms. Both mTOR inhibition and GCN2 kinase activation exert immunosuppressive effects, since they inhibit cell proliferation and induce apoptosis. As regards CD4+ T-cell differentiation, mTOR inhibition exerted a more profound effect, since it suppressed differentiation into the Th1, Th2 and Th17 lineages, while it induced Treg differentiation. On the contrary, the activation of GCN2 kinase suppressed only Th2 differentiation.