mTOR signaling in the kidney health, disease and therapy

Abstract

The mTOR signaling plays a central role in the regulation of cell growth, proliferation, survival, apoptosis, and metabolism in response to mitogen, stress, energy, and nutrient signals as well as renal injury factors such as glucose, hemodynamic force, immune factors, toxins and cancer causing agents. From cells to animal models, dysregulation of mTOR signaling in different renal cells of the entire nephron leads to a number of renal disease progression, including diabetic nephropathy, HIV-associated nephropathy, polycystic kidney diseases, acute kidney injury and renal cell carcinoma. On the other hand, the inhibitors that attenuate mTOR signaling at the levels of receptor, kinase, phospholipase D or mTOR can slow or delay the disease progression. In this review, we update our current knowledge of mTOR signaling network in kidney health, disease and therapy.