Rapamycin News and Research

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Rapamycin is a drug used to prevent the rejection of organ and bone marrow transplants by the body. Rapamycin is an antibiotic that blocks a protein involved in cell division and inhibits the growth and function of certain T cells of the immune system involved in the body's rejection of foreign tissues and organs. It is a type of immunosuppressant and a type of serine/threonine kinase inhibitor. Rapamycin is now called sirolimus.

Rapamycin (sirolimus) may be effective in treating kidney disease

A widely available drug may be effective in treating kidney disease, report scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara. They describe the discovery in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science.

21 Mar 2006

Link between dementia and cancer

By expressing a protein associated with Alzheimer's disease in the brain of the fruit fly, researchers have demonstrated an intriguing link between neuronal death and proteins previously associated with cancer.

7 Feb 2006

New genes that regulate longevity

In an effort to understand the molecular mechanisms that control aging, Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers and their colleagues have now uncovered 10 new genes that regulate longevity in yeast. The studies also suggest a new model for how aging is slowed when caloric intake is restricted.

20 Nov 2005

Studies explore genetic interactions between two well-known tumor suppressor proteins, PTEN and TSC2

Two papers in the August 1 issue of Genes & Development explore the genetic interactions between two well-known tumor suppressor proteins, PTEN and TSC2.

19 Jul 2005

New drug, RAD001, shown to stop the growth of ovarian cancer cells

A new drug, RAD001, has been shown to stop the growth and movement of certain ovarian cancer cells, according to scientists at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. The research was presented today at the 96th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Anaheim, Calif.

20 Apr 2005

Use of DNA-damaging agents revolutionizes chemotherapy against a wide variety of cancers

A new study demonstrates the potential effectiveness of treating tumors by combining agents that damage DNA with a drug that sensitizes cancer cells to these agents.

28 Mar 2005

Researchers identify target for cancer drugs

For nearly a decade, scientists have been trying to fully understand a particular communication pathway inside of cells that contributes to many malignant brain and prostate cancers. While scientists have identified elements of this pathway, other key components have remained a mystery.

23 Feb 2005

Discovery of new protein involved in regulating the second most commonly mutated tumor suppressor in human tumors

Scientists in Tokyo have discovered a new protein, named PICT-1, that is involved in regulating PTEN, the second most commonly mutated tumor suppressor in human tumors.

22 Oct 2004

FDA fast tracks temsirolimus, first-line treatment of poor-prognosis patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted a new "fast track" designation for temsirolimus (CCI-779), an investigational mTOR kinase inhibitor, in the first-line treatment of poor-prognosis patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

18 Aug 2004

Investigation into mTOR protein function is far from over

Discovery of the mTOR protein and the role it plays in cell growth, a process often linked to diseases such as cancer, was part serendipity and part good detective work. And like any good whodunit, the mTOR story wouldn’t be complete without an unexpected twist.

12 Aug 2004

First-of-its-kind noninvasive imaging technique shows two proteins interacting

Radiologists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed a first-of-its-kind noninvasive imaging technique that allows them to watch two proteins interacting in live animals.

2 Aug 2004

Misfiring proteins linked to sick feeling of type 2 diabetics

After a series of studies in the laboratory of Dr. Gregory Freund, a clearer picture is emerging: A disruption of signaling proteins in the immune system may be responsible for the inflammation that makes someone with type 2 diabetes feel sick and increases the risk of serious complications.

29 Jul 2004

Sirolimus-based therapy following early cyclosporine withdrawal improves transplanted kidney structure and function

Kidney histology and function three years after transplantation are better in kidney-transplant patients who remain on sirolimus-based therapy following early withdrawal of cyclosporine than in patients who continue on this calcineurin inhibitor, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Transplantation.

11 Jun 2004