Rapamycin regulates Akt and ERK phosphorylation through mTORC1 and mTORC2 signaling pathways.

Numerous studies have shown that mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor activates Akt signaling pathway via a negative feedback loop while inhibiting mTORC1 signaling. In this report, we focused on studying the role of mTORC1 and mTORC2 in rapamycin-mediated Akt and ERK phosphorylation, and the antitumor effect of rapamycin in cancer cells in combination with Akt and ERK inhibitors. Moreover, we analyzed the effect of mTORC1 and mTORC2 on regulating cell cycle progression.