Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a serine/threonine protein kinase and has been known to play its role in cell growth and proliferation. mTOR is activated by phosphorylationin response to growth factors, mitogens and hormones. Rapamycin is a macrolide antibiotic from Streptomyces hygroscopicus that specifically inhibit the activity of mTOR.
As the hormone ghrelin is linked to appetite and weight gain, as well as impaired glucose-induced insulin secretion, there is considerable interest in this peptide as a potential drug target. Although the overall lack of success in this field has been disappointing, research inhibiting the ghrelin-modifying enzyme GOAT (MBOAT4) has produced promising results.
Inositol Requiring Enzyme 1 alpha (IRE1 alpha) is a transmembrane-RNase with an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) luminal sensor domain and cytosolic kinase and ribonuclease domains. IRE1 also plays a central role in the ER stress response (1).
The TUB gene, which encodes for the protein Tubby, is evolutionarily conserved in human, chimpanzee, dog, cow, mouse, chicken, zebrafish, fruit fly, mosquito, C. elegans, and rice.
Adiponectin (also called ADIPOQ) is a cytokine expressed exclusively in adipose tissue. It has a number of functions, regulating lipid metabolism, gluconeogenesis and the inflammatory response. Adiponectin antibody products are widely used in diabetes, obesity and lipid metabolism research. Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes are linked to an increased risk of breast cancer in women.
