Abstract

The potent immunosuppressive action of rapamycin is commonly ascribed to inhibition of growth factor-induced T cell proliferation. However, it is now evident that the serine/threonine protein kinase mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) has an important role in the modulation of both innate and adaptive immune responses. mTOR regulates diverse functions of professional antigen-presenting cells, such as dendritic cells (DCs), and has important roles in the activation of effector T cells and the function and proliferation of regulatory T cells. In this Review, we discuss our current understanding of the mTOR pathway and the consequences of mTOR inhibition, both in DCs and T cells, including new data on the regulation of forkhead box P3 expression.

Author affiliations

1. Starzl Transplantation Institute and Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261, USA.
2. Department of Immunology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261, USA.

Correspondence to: Angus W. Thomson^1,2 Email: thomsonaw@upmc.edu

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