Pten/mtor pathway

PTEN/mTOR pathway

The PTEN/mTOR pathway is a set of interacting molecules inside cells that controls growth, survival, and how much a cell builds new structures. PTEN is a protein that acts like a brake on cellular growth signals, while mTOR is a central controller that tells the cell when to make proteins and grow. Together they form a balance: PTEN restrains activity that would otherwise turn on mTOR-driven building and growth. This balance is important in many contexts, from normal development to aging, cancer, and the ability of nerve cells to repair themselves. In nerve cells, reducing PTEN or boosting mTOR activity can encourage regrowth of damaged fibers, but changing this balance must be done carefully because it can also promote unwanted cell overgrowth. Researchers study this pathway to find ways to enhance healing after injury without causing harmful side effects like uncontrolled cell division. Drugs, gene therapies, and other techniques can adjust PTEN or mTOR activity, aiming to create a permissive environment for repair while preserving normal cell control. Because this pathway is involved in many tissues, targeted delivery and timing of treatments are major considerations to avoid problems in other organs. Understanding the PTEN/mTOR pathway gives clinicians and scientists specific targets to test in the lab and clinic, which can speed the development of therapies for diseases that currently lack good options.