Home|Events

Huffines Institute - Events

Weekly Text Article "Understanding mTOR: Great for Muscle, Bad for Cancer"

Weekly Text Article "Understanding mTOR: Great for Muscle, Bad for Cancer"

Read the weekly text article by Mr. Kevin Shimkus titled "Understanding mTOR: Great for Muscle, Bad for Cancer." "In muscle research, we tend to pay a great deal of attention to a particular signaling protein called mTOR, a key regulatory protein that signals for cell growth through the creation of new proteins. Consider protein building similar to a race car. The larger the engine, the greater potential for speed. Similarly, the more mTOR protein present in any given cell, the greater potential for more protein construction. And just like the gas pedal fuels the engine, mTOR is a signaling protein, and can be various levels of active (like a pedal’s ability to regulate speed). If a number of different processes all signal for ‘Go’, then the cell builds as much protein as it can, as quickly as it can. So just as a souped-up car takes off rapidly, a muscle cell can signal for tremendous muscle growth very quickly, given the right conditions."

Image Source: http://slsgraduateprogram.tamu.edu/NSBRI/content.aspx?page=277

Related

Share

Search



Categories



Archive