Signaling Mechanisms that Suppress the Cytostatic Actions of Rapamycin

While rapamycin and the “rapalogs” Everolimus and Temsirolimus have been approved for clinical use in the treatment of a number of forms of cancer, they have not met overarching success. Some tumors are largely refractory to rapamycin treatment, with some even undergoing an increase in growth rates. However the mechanisms by which this occurs are largely unknown. The results presented here reveal novel cell-signaling mechanisms that may lead to this resistance. The absence of TGFβ signaling results in resistance to rapamycin. Additionally, we observed that treatment of some cancer cell lines with rapamycin and its analogs not only potentiates mitogenic signaling and proliferation induced by HGF, but also stimulates the pro-survival kinase Akt. Together, the data show that the effectiveness of rapamycin treatment can be influenced by a number of factors and bring to light potential biomarkers for the prediction of responsiveness to treatment, and suggest combination therapies to optimize rapalog anticancer efficacy.