There are numerous studies that confirm the relationship between an enzyme involved in the processes of growth and cell proliferation, mTOR (Serine/threonine-kinase, or mammalian target of rapamycin), and the genesis of tumors. These investigations have revealed, therefore, the possible therapeutic potential of mTOR inhibitors, such as a therapeutic agent rapamycin (sirolimus).
On Friday, 7th of November, the Vall d’Hebron University Hospital was the site chosen by Arkaitz Carracedo, now a postdoctoral fellow at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (owned by the Harvard Medical School), to give a talk entitled “Targeting mTOR-converging pathways for cancer therapy“, focused precisely on this potential therapeutic target. In fact, Carracedo’s current research intends to understand the processes of genesis of cancer-related enzyme mTOR to develop new anticancer therapies.
Arkaitz Carracedo, born in the Basque Country, achieved his doctorate in 2006 at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, where he studied the potential anti-tumor effects of cannabinoids. A year later became part of the Laboratory Pier Paolo Pandolfi as post-doctoral fellow. He later joined the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and left to join the Harvard Medical School.
At the age of 29, Carracedo has already published more than 16 papers in prestigious international journals. The latest is precisely what makes reference to the rapamycin and its derivatives, which block the mTOR protein specifically. He published the study, along with other researchers from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, in a recent issue of “The Journal of Clinical Investigation.”
