Role of mTOR Signaling Cascade in Epidermal Morphogenesis and Skin Barrier Formation

• Published in: Biology (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 11; no. 6; p. 931
• Main Authors: Wang, Juan, Eming, Sabine A., Ding, Xiaolei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 19.06.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Animal models; Autophagy; Biosynthesis; Cell differentiation; Cell growth; Cell proliferation; Cell self-renewal; epidermal morphogenesis; Epidermis; Epithelium; Growth factors; Insulin; Keratinocytes; Kinases; Metabolism; Morphogenesis; mouse models; mTOR; Mutation; Physiology; Protein kinase; Proteins; Rapamycin; Regulation; Review; Reviews; skin barrier; Skin diseases; TOR protein; Transgenic mice
• ISSN: 2079-7737; 2079-7737
• DOI: 10.3390/biology11060931

The skin epidermis, with its capacity for lifelong self-renewal and rapid repairing response upon injury, must maintain an active status in metabolism. Mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling is a central controller of cellular growth and metabolism that coordinates diverse physiological and pathological processes in a variety of tissues and organs. Recent evidence with genetic mouse models highlights an essential role of the mTOR signaling network in epidermal morphogenesis and barrier formation. In this review, we focus on the recent advances in understanding how mTOR signaling networks, including upstream inputs, kinases and downstream effectors, regulate epidermal morphogenesis and skin barrier formation. Understanding the details of the metabolic signaling will be critical for the development of novel pharmacological approaches to promote skin barrier regeneration and to treat epidermal barrier defect-associated diseases.