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University of Illinois Cancer Center member Sang-Oh Yoon, PhD, is the corresponding author on a study published in the journal Molecular Cell.

The study, “mTOR Inhibition Reprograms Cellular Lipid Homeostasis by Inducing Alternative Lipid Uptake and Promoting Cholesterol Transport,” examines how inhibiting mTOR alters how cells manage lipids.

Sang-Oh Yoon, PhD

“The mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a key regulator of lipid homeostasis by controlling processes including lipid uptake and biosynthesis. mTOR dysregulation and consequent altered lipid metabolism are common in various diseases, including cancers, making mTOR a promising therapeutic target,” according to the study summary. “Our findings highlight mTOR feedback signaling in reprogramming lipid homeostasis and its therapeutic potential to treat diseases characterized by dysregulated mTOR.”

A Cancer Biology Research Program member at the Cancer Center, Yoon is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at UIC. Other Cancer Center authors on the project include Translational Oncology Research Program member Wonhwa Cho, PhD, Professor and Head of the Department of Chemistry at UIC, and Cancer Biology Research Program member Sejeong Shin, PhD, a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics. Other researchers and authors were from UIC, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and the Université de Montréal in Canada.