mTOR Inhibitors
The mammalian target of Rapamycin (mTOR) is a Serine/Threonine kinase enzyme that relays signal from extracellular signals like hormones (e.g. insulin), growth factors etc. to the nucleus. It exerts transcriptional and translational control in regulating cell division, growth, motility and survival. mTOR also senses cellular nutrient, oxygen, and energy levels and helps conserve them if needed for cell survival. mTOR protein functions as a part of two structurally and functionally distinct signaling complexes mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) and 2 (mTORC2). mTOR signaling is involved in aging, neural plasticity, cognitive function related to learning and memory, amyloid β and Tau protein biology and many disease mechanisms due to its fundamental role in regulation of protein homeostasis. mTOR inhibitors like Rapamycin (also known as Rapalogs), are already used to prevent rejection of transplants and to treat metabolic disorders like glycogen storage disease. mTOR inhibitors may also be useful for treating several age-associated diseases: Diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer's) and cancer. Developing specific small molecule inhibitors of mTOR constitutes a central aspect of research in the quest to find treatments for a large number of diseases. Biovision's catalog consists of various types of mTOR inhibitors including the new generation of ATP-competitive inhibitors which can act on both mTOR and phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K).
