5-Aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-β-4-ribofuranoside (AICAR) enhances the efficacy of rapamycin in human cancer cells.

mTOR - the mammalian/mechanistic target of rapamycin - has been implicated as a key signaling node for promoting survival of cancer cells. However, clinical trials that have targeted mTOR with rapamycin or rapamycin analogs have had minimal impact. In spite of the high specificity of rapamycin for mTOR, the doses needed to suppress key mTOR substrates have proved toxic.