Rapamycin tagged posts

MIT biologists have answered an important biological question: Why do cells control their size? Cells of the same type are strikingly uniform in size, while cell size differs between different cell types. This raises the question of whether cell size is important for cellular physiology.

The new study suggests that cellular enlargement drives a decline in function of stem cells. The researchers found that blood stem cells, which are among the smallest cells in the body, lose their ability to perform their normal function — replenishing the body’s blood cells — as they grow larger. However, when the cells were restored to their usual size, they behaved normally again.

The researchers also found that blood stem cells tend to enlarge as they age...

Researchers discover an unexpected link between DNA winding and metabolism in the gut to ameliorate aging. Our genetic material is stored in our cells in a specific way to make the meter-long DNA molecule fit into the tiny cell nucleus of each body cell...

The structure of rapamycin. (Fvasconcellos/Wikimedia Commons)

New research in mice indicates that a drug commonly used to suppress the immune system in recipients of organ transplants may also reduce tissue damage and neuropathic pain after spinal cord injury. Rapamycin, which is an inhibitor of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway, has a variety of cellular functions and is known to possess both immunosuppressant and anti-tumor properties. In their previous work, investigators at the Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan found that rapamycin treatment can reduce nerve damage and locomotor impairment after spinal cord injury...

3D model of the protein complex mTORC1. Credit: University of Basel, Biozentrum

For a long time it has been known protein TOR – Target of Rapamycin – controls cell growth and is involved in the development of diseases such as cancer and diabetes. Researchers have now examined the structure of mammalian TOR complex 1 (mTORC1) in more detail.

About 25 years ago, Prof. Michael Hall discovered the protein “Target of Rapamycin” (TOR) at the Biozentrum. It is one of the most studied proteins of the protein kinase family, an important family of regulatory proteins that control many cellular processes. TOR, in mammals called mTOR, is very important for cellular signalling and is implicated in various diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and neurodegeneration...