( t a molecule called mTOR is a protein...)Researchers identify target for cancer drugs

t, a molecule called mTOR, is a protein that influences a cell's ability to expand in size. mTOR has been widely studied as the target for the immunosuppressant drug rapamycin (in fact, mTOR is an acronym for "mammalian target of rapamycin"). In July of 2004, Dos Sarbassov, a scientist in Sabatini's lab, discovered a new protein that mTOR interacts with called rictor, but he wasn't yet sure of what these two proteins do together. In this latest paper, Sarbassov reports that when mTOR and rictor bind and form a complex, they help activate Akt by adding a phosphate group to a sequence of its amino acids (a process called "phosphorylation").

This process occurs not only in human cells but in other organisms such as the fruit fly. Finding this complex conserved in species as diverse as flies and humans supports the claim that the mTOR/rictor complex is indeed a missing piece of the puzzle.

According to Sarbassov, "If we find a molecule that can block the mTOR/rictor complex, then we may be able to prevent Akt from becoming active and contributing to tumor formation."

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Source:Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research


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