What is the role of mTOR in cancer?

What is the role of mTOR in cancer?

The mammalian or mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway plays a crucial role in regulation of cell survival, metabolism, growth and protein synthesis in response to upstream signals in both normal physiological and pathological conditions, especially in cancer.

What are mTOR inhibitors used for?

Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors are used in treatment of renal cancer and is being studied for use in other types of cancers. More benefits are being seen when MTOR inhibitors are combined with other chemotherapy agents.

Are mTOR inhibitors chemotherapy?

Because the mTOR pathway is upregulated in many chemoresistant cancers, mTOR inhibitors are a logical choice to resensitize tumor cells to chemotherapy or delay the development of treatment resistance by these upregulated or mutated key pathways.

Is rapamycin used for cancer?

Indeed, rapamycin analogs (rapalog) have been approved for treating cancer in the clinic. In addition, many mTOR inhibitors with different mechanisms of action have been developed, some of which are undergoing clinical trials in variety types of human cancer.

Is mTOR inhibition good?

Indeed, mTOR inhibitors might be future longevity drugs, because a clinical trial in elderly healthy humans receiving the mTORC1 inhibitor everolimus at a very low dose showed safety and even improved immune function [24]. Moreover, alternate dosing regimens may still promote longevity but reduce side effects [63,64].

What drugs inhibit mTOR?

mTORC2 is also involved in the PI3K/AKT pathway but its function is independent of mTORC1. It phosphorylates and stimulates AKT activation, and hence plays a critical role in AKT mediated cell survival (8). Rapamycin is the prototype of the first generation of mTOR inhibitors (9).

What cancers does rapamycin treat?

As a natural inhibitor of mTORC1, rapamycin is able to increase lifespan in mice [6, 7]. mTOR activity is frequently de-regulated in a variety of human cancers, such as breast, prostate, lung, liver, and renal carcinomas.

Should I take rapamycin?

Despite the fact that rapamycin is a FDA-approved drug taken by millions of patients, some basic scientists believe that rapamycin causes deleterious metabolic alterations or even diabetes and, therefore, cannot be safely used in humans as an antiaging drug.

How does rapamycin suppress immune system?

Rapamycin exerts its immunosuppressive effects by inhibiting the activation and proliferation of T cells. It acts specifically on FK-binding protein 12 (FKBP12), a substance commonly referred to as an immunophilin because it binds to immunosuppressive drugs.

Can rapamycin cause cancer?

Although rapamycin and its analogs are now approved by the FDA for treatment of cancer and lymphomas, the rumors that these drugs may cause cancer persist. To my knowledge, no study has shown that mTOR inhibitors cause cancer.

Does rapamycin inhibit mTOR?

Rapamycin is an acute inhibitor of mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1), which phosphorylates substrates including S6 kinase 1 (S6K1), eIF4E-binding protein 1 (4E-BP1), transcription factor EB (TFEB), unc-51-like autophagy-activating kinase 1 (Ulk1), and growth factor receptor-bound protein 10 (GRB-10).

Is mTOR an oncogene?

mTOR is the master regulator of cell growth control, where oncogenic mTOR signalling through both complexes commonly occur in cancer. In part, mTORC1 drives cell growth at the level of protein translation.