A balancing act: mTOR integrates nutrient signals to regulate redox-dependent growth and survival through SOD1

ABSTRACTMaintaining cellular redox is critical for growth, metabolism and survival in response to changing environments. How nutrients regulate this process is a long-standing fundamental question in cell biology. Our recent study revealed a conserved mechanism by which eukaryotes, particularly cancer cells, couple nutrient signaling to dynamically regulate redox homeostasis.Abbreviations: ATP: adenosine triphosphate; Ala: alanine; C6H12O6: glucose; OH−: hydroxyl radical; Glu: glutamate; mRNA: messenger RNA; mTOR: mechanistic/mammalian target of rapamycin; OXYPHOS: oxidative phosphorylation; Ser: serine; ROS: reactive oxygen species; O2−: superoxide; SOD1: superoxide dismutase 1; Thr: threonine