1. Cancer Biology and Genetics Program,
2. Department of Pathology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Sloan-Kettering Institute, 1275 York Avenue, New York, New York 10021, USA
3. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Genetic Medicine, Division of Hematology-Oncology, Weill–Cornell Medical College, New York, New York 10021, USA
4. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Cell & Developmental Biology and Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute, University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA

Correspondence to: Pier Paolo Pandolfi^1,2 Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to P.P.P. (Email: p-pandolfi@ski.mskcc.org).

Abstract

Loss of the promyelocytic leukaemia (PML) tumour suppressor has been observed in several human cancers. The tumour-suppressive function of PML has been attributed to its ability to induce growth arrest, cellular senescence and apoptosis. Here we identify PML as a critical inhibitor of neoangiogenesis (the formation of new blood vessels) in vivo, in both ischaemic and neoplastic conditions, through the control of protein translation. We demonstrate that in hypoxic conditions PML acts as a negative regulator of the synthesis rate of hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) by repressing mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). PML physically interacts with mTOR and negatively regulates its association with the small GTPase Rheb by favouring mTOR nuclear accumulation. Notably, Pml^-/- cells and tumours display higher sensitivity both in vitro and in vivo to growth inhibition by rapamycin, and lack of PML inversely correlates with phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6 and tumour angiogenesis in mouse and human tumours. Thus, our findings identify PML as a novel suppressor of mTOR and neoangiogenesis.

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