Abstract

The ageing population is becoming a significant socio-economic issue. To address the expanding health gap, it is important to deepen our understanding of the mechanisms underlying ageing in various organisms at the single-cell level. The discovery of the antifungal, immunosuppressive, and anticancer drug rapamycin, which possesses the ability to extend the lifespan of several species, has prompted extensive research in the areas of cell metabolic regulation, development, and senescence. At the centre of this research is the mTOR pathway, with key roles in cell growth, proteosynthesis, ribosomal biogenesis, transcriptional regulation, glucose and lipid metabolism, and autophagy. Recently, it has become obvious that mTOR dysregulation is involved in several age-related diseases, such as cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Additionally, mTOR hyperactivation affects the process of ageing per se. In this review, we provide an overview of recent insights into the mTOR signalling pathway, including its regulation and its influence on various hallmarks of ageing at the cellular level.

摘要

人口老龄化正在成为一个重要的社会经济问题。为了解决不断扩大的健康差距，在单细胞水平上加深我们对各种生物衰老机制的理解非常重要。具有延长多种物种寿命能力的抗真菌、免疫抑制和抗癌药物雷帕霉素的发现促进了细胞代谢调节、发育和衰老领域的广泛研究。这项研究的核心是 mTOR 通路，它在细胞生长、蛋白质合成、核糖体生物发生、转录调控、葡萄糖和脂质代谢以及自噬中发挥关键作用。最近，很明显 mTOR 失调与几种与年龄相关的疾病有关，例如癌症、神经退行性疾病、和 2 型糖尿病。此外，mTOR 过度激活会影响衰老过程本身。在这篇综述中，我们概述了对 mTOR 信号通路的最新见解，包括其调控及其对细胞水平上各种衰老标志的影响。