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mTOR, Metabolism, and Diseases 2.0

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Endocrinology and Metabolism".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 6379

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Molecular Medicine, UT Health Science Center San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA
Interests: cancer; metabolism; mRNA translation; mRNA degradation; mTOR
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) integrates extracellular and intracellular signals (e.g., growth factors, insulin, nutrients, and oxygen) to stimulate anabolism, including protein, lipid, and nucleic acid synthesis, and bolster cellular growth and proliferation while suppressing autophagy. mTOR forms two distinct complexes, mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) and 2 (mTORC2), which differ in their composition, downstream targets, regulation, and sensitivity to the naturally occurring allosteric mTOR inhibitor, rapamycin. Hyperactivation of mTOR frequently accompanies diseases characterized by perturbations in energy metabolism and cell growth, such as cancer and metabolic syndrome. The first generation of mTOR inhibitors, rapamycin and its analogs, have been used for the treatment of a few types of cancer with modest therapeutic effects. A new generation of ATP-competitive inhibitors that directly target the mTOR catalytic domain show potent and comprehensive inhibition and are in early clinical trials. Chronic rapamycin significantly increases lifespan in model organisms with better health indicators. The major clinical benefits of mTOR inhibition will likely be in the prevention or management of age-related diseases such as cancer, metabolic syndrome and its associated complications resulting in late life morbidity compression.

This special issue “mTOR, Metabolism, and Diseases” will cover a selection of recent research topics and current review articles in the field of the mTOR signaling pathway.

Dr. Masahiro Morita
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • mTOR
  • rapamycin
  • inhibitor
  • cancer
  • metabolic syndrome
  • aging
  • mRNA translation
  • 4E-BP
  • S6K
  • autophagy

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

23 pages, 20759 KiB  
Review
mTOR as a Potential Target for the Treatment of Microbial Infections, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, and Colorectal Cancer
by Obaid Afzal, Abdulmalik S. A. Altamimi, Bismillah Mubeen, Sami I. Alzarea, Waleed Hassan Almalki, Salwa D. Al-Qahtani, Eman M. Atiya, Fahad A. Al-Abbasi, Fatima Ali, Inam Ullah, Muhammad Shahid Nadeem and Imran Kazmi
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(20), 12470; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms232012470 - 18 Oct 2022
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 5976
Abstract
The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is the major controller of a number of important cellular activities, including protein synthesis, cell expansion, multiplication, autophagy, lysosomal function, and cellular metabolism. When mTOR interacts with specific adaptor proteins, it forms two complexes, mTOR complex 1 [...] Read more.
The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is the major controller of a number of important cellular activities, including protein synthesis, cell expansion, multiplication, autophagy, lysosomal function, and cellular metabolism. When mTOR interacts with specific adaptor proteins, it forms two complexes, mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) and mTOR complex 2 (mTORC2). The mTOR signaling system regulates gene transcription and protein manufacturing to control proliferation of cell, differentiation of immune cell, and tumor metabolism. Due to its vital role in case of microbial infections, inflammations and cancer development and progression, mTOR has been considered as a key therapeutic target for the development of targeted medication. As autophagy dysfunction is linked to changes in both innate and adaptive immune responses, bacterial clearance defects, and goblet and Paneth cell malfunction, all of these changes are linked to inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and colorectal cancer (CRC) pathogenesis. Preclinical and clinical data have shown that the inhibition and induction of autophagy have significant potential to be translated into the clinical applications. In IBD and several CRC models, mTORC1 inhibitors have been found effective. In the recent years, a number of novel mTOR inhibitors have been investigated in clinical trials, and a number of drugs have shown considerably enhanced efficacy when combined with mTOR inhibitors. The future developments in the mTOR targeting medications can benefit patients in individualized therapy. Advanced and innovative medicines that are more effective and have lower drug resistance are still in high demand. New findings could be relevant in medicine development, pharmacological modification, or future mTOR inhibitor research. Therefore, the goal of this review is to present a comprehensive account of current developments on the mTOR pathway and its inhibitors, with an emphasis on the management of microbial infections, the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, and the management of colon cancer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue mTOR, Metabolism, and Diseases 2.0)
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