The PI3K/AKT/mTOR interactive pathway

Mol Biosyst. 2015 Jul;11(7):1946-54. doi: 10.1039/c5mb00101c.

Abstract

The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT/mammalian target of the rapamycin (mTOR) signalling pathway is hyperactivated or altered in many cancer types and regulates a broad range of cellular processes including survival, proliferation, growth, metabolism, angiogenesis and metastasis. The PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway is regulated by a wide-range of upstream signalling proteins and it regulates many downstream effectors by collaborating with various compensatory signalling pathways, primarily with RAF/MEK/ERK pathway. Limited clinical success of the available targeted therapeutic agents and challenges mediated by tumour heterogeneity across different cancer types emphasize the importance of alterations in the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway in the design of effective personalized treatment strategies. Here we report a comprehensive PI3K/AKT/mTOR network that represents the intricate crosstalk between compensatory pathways, which can be utilized to study the AKT signalling mechanism in detail and improve the personalized combinatorial therapeutic strategies.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Humans
  • MAP Kinase Signaling System*
  • Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / physiology
  • Protein Interaction Maps*
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / physiology
  • TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases / physiology

Substances

  • MTOR protein, human
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt
  • TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases