Abstract
The target of rapamycin (TOR) kinase is part of an evolutionarily conserved signaling pathway that coordinates cell growth, survival, and autophagy. Previously, pharmacological studies using rapamycin have suggested a cardioprotective effect of TOR signaling inhibition on cardiomyopathy. We found that rapamycin exerts a conserved cardioprotective effect in two adult zebrafish models of cardiomyopathy of different etiology, and provided the first genetic evidence to support a long-term cardioprotective effect of TOR signaling inhibition. Moreover, we detected dynamic TOR-autophagy activities along different stages of cardiomyopathy. This needs to be considered when developing TOR-autophagy-based therapeutics for cardiomyopathy.
Punctum to: Ding Y, Sun X, Huang W, Hoage T, Redfield M, Kushwaha S, et al. Haploinsufficiency of target of rapamycin attenuates cardiomyopathies in adult zebrafish. Circ Res 2011; 109:658 - 669; PMID: 21757652; http://dx.doi.org/10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.111.248260