Owing to their immunosuppressive and antiproliferative effects,sirolimus (also called rapamycin) and related drugs are beingevaluated as part of many transplant immunosuppresion regimens,as well as for a plethora of medical conditions such as type1 diabetes, macular degeneration, coronary artery disease, andmetastatic or refractory cancers of the breast, prostate, lung,and liver, to name but a few.
The effects of sirolimus are mediated by its inhibition of thecuriously named cytoplasmic protein mammalian target of rapamycin(mTOR), a ubiquitous serine–threonine kinase that is intimatelyinvolved in the regulation of protein synthesis, cell growth,cytoskeletal organization, and other . . . [Full Text of this Article]
Source Information
From the Division of Pediatric Nephrology (E.P.) and the Departments of Neurology and Pediatrics (E.T.), Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.
This article has been cited by other articles:
Weichhart, T, Saemann, M D
(2008). The PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway in innate immune cells: emerging therapeutic applications. Ann Rheum Dis
67: iii70-iii74
[Abstract][Full Text]
Rosner, M., Hengstschlager, M.
(2008). Cytoplasmic and nuclear distribution of the protein complexes mTORC1 and mTORC2: rapamycin triggers dephosphorylation and delocalization of the mTORC2 components rictor and sin1. Hum Mol Genet
17: 2934-2948
[Abstract][Full Text]
Egan, J. J., Remund, K. F., Corris, P., Bissler, J. J., Young, L. R., McCormack, F. X.
(2008). Sirolimus for Lymphangioleiomyomatosis Lesions. NEJM
358: 1963-1964
[Full Text]