Rapamycin inhibits liver growth during refeeding in rats via control of ribosomal protein translation but not cap-dependent translation initiation

We examined the role of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) in hepatic cell growth. To dissociate cell growth from cell proliferation, we employed an in vivo model of nonproliferative liver growth in rats, refeeding after 48 h of food deprivation. Starvation resulted in a decrease in liver mass, liver protein, and cell size, all of which were largely restored after 24 h of refeeding. Administration of the mTOR inhibitor, rapamycin, before the refeeding period partially inhibited the restoration of liver protein content. Refeeding was also associated with an increase in ribosomal protein S6 phosphorylation and phosphorylation of the eukaryotic initiation factor (elF) 4E binding protein 1 (4E-BP1). 4E-BP1 phosphorylation was accompanied by a decrease in the abundance of the complex containing 4E-BP1 with elF4E. These changes were prevented by rapamycin administration. However, association of elF4E and elF4G and elF2 alpha phosphorylation, both of which are stimulated by refeeding, were insensitive to rapamycin. The functional importance of these observations was confirmed by polysome fractionation, which showed that translation initiation of 5' oligopyrimidine tract-containing mRNAs, which encode ribosomal proteins, was inhibited by rapamycin, whereas translation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT-1), a cap-dependent mRNA, was unaffected. The abundance of ribosomal proteins paralleled total protein content during refeeding in both control and rapamycin-injected rats. We conclude that accretion of liver protein during refeeding is dependent on mTOR-mediated activation of the translation of ribosomal proteins but not dependent on mTOR-mediated activation of cap-dependent translation initiation.