Evaluating the therapeutic potential of mTOR inhibitors using mouse genetics

Extensive efforts are underway to develop small-molecule inhibitors of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) kinase. It is hoped that these inhibitors will have widespread clinical impact in oncology because mTOR is a major downstream effector of PI3K signaling, one of the most frequently activated pathways in cancer. In cells, mTOR is the catalytic core subunit of two distinct complexes, mTORC1 and mTORC2, which are defined by unique mTOR-interacting proteins and have unique functions downstream of PI3K. Two classes of mTOR inhibitors are currently being evaluated as cancer therapeutics: rapamycin and its analogs, which partially inhibit mTORC1 and in some cell types mTORC2, and the recently described ATP-competitive inhibitors, which inhibit the kinase activity of both complexes. Although small molecules that selectively target mTORC2 do not yet exist, experiments using mouse genetics suggest that a theoretical mTORC2 inhibitor may have significant therapeutic value. Here, we discuss an approach to model mTOR complex specific inhibitors using mouse genetics and how it can be applied to other gene products involved in oncogenic signaling to which inhibitors do not exist.