Cadmium has no known physiological function in the body; however, its adverse effects are associated with cancer and many types of organ system damage. Although much has been shown about Cd toxicity, the underlying mechanisms of its responses to the organism remain unclear. In this study, the role of Tor1, a catalytic subunit of the target of rapamycin complex 2 (TORC2), in Cd-mediated effects on cell proliferation, the antioxidant system, morphology, and ionome balance was investigated in the eukaryotic model organism Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Surprisingly, spectrophotometric and biochemical analyses revealed that the growth rate conditions and antioxidant defense mechanisms are considerably better in cells lacking the Tor1 signaling. The malondialdehyde (MDA) content of Tor1-deficient cells upon Cd treatment represents approximately half of the wild-type content. The microscopic determination of the cell morphological parameters indicates the role for Tor1 in cell shape maintenance. The ion content, determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), showed that the Cd uptake potency was markedly lower in Tor1-depleted compared to wild-type cells. Conclusively, we show that the cadmium-mediated cell impairments in the fission yeast significantly depend on the Tor1 signaling. Additionally, the data presented here suggest the yet-undefined role of Tor1 in the transport of ions.

AgroBioTech Research Centre Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra 949 76 Nitra Slovakia

Department of Bioenergetics Food Analysis and Microbiology Institute of Food Technology and Nutrition University of Rzeszow 35 601 Rzeszow Poland

Department of Fruit Science Viticulture and Enology Faculty of Horticulture and Landscape Engineering Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra 94976 Nitra Slovakia

Department of Genetics and Breeding Biology Faculty of Agrobiology and Food Resources Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra 94976 Nitra Slovakia

Department of Plant Physiology Faculty of Agrobiology and Food Resources Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra 94976 Nitra Slovakia

Institute of Experimental Medicine Czech Academy of Science 14220 Prague Czech Republic

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