Upregulation of DEPTOR is a positive prognostic marker in ovarian cancer and is increased in response to mTOR pathway inhibition suggesting that it functions as a tumour suppressor gene in endometrioid ovarian carcinoma.
Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) siRNA (simTOR) co-transfection was performed to verify the role of mTOR in the suppression effect of miR-1271 on ovarian cancer.
Likewise, the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway is also a central regulator of the ovarian cancer.
Sphere forming cells (multicellular spheroids) present in malignant ascites of patients with ovarian cancer represent a major impediment to effective treatment. p70 S6 kinase (p70S6K), which is a downstream effector of mammalian target of rapamycin, is frequently hyperactivated in human ovarian cancer.
Our results indicate that there are significant differences in the expression of some of the mTOR-related tumor suppressors and oncogenes which could be associated with the pathogenesis of ovarian cancer.
These results indicate that PI3K mediates G(1) progression and cyclin expression through activation of an AKT/mTOR/p70S6K1 signaling pathway in the ovarian cancer cells.