mTOR Pathway Malfunctions in Neurodevelopmental Disorders

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Background

The Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) pathway integrates a broad set of intracellular and extracellular signaling and regulates a broad spectrum of downstream effectors involved in the essential cellular processes, including protein synthesis and autophagy. Malfunctions of mTOR signaling have been implicated across the continuum of neurodevelopmental disorders, neurodegeneration, metabolic disorders, and cancer. mTORopathies are characterized by the defects in neural development and consequential disruptions of neural circuits and brain network, which leads to the deficits in higher-order cognition and behavior. During last decades, extensive efforts on discovering the mechanisms of mTOR involved in the physiological and pathophysiological processes of neurodevelopment has provided us with a better understanding of this mystery signaling and enabled the development of targeted therapies. However, many questions remain. For example, how mTOR signaling interacts with the numerous signals and transduces the impacts in various conditions, how mTOR regulates the downstream molecules triggering the cellular and functional abnormalities in neurodevelopment, the mechanisms of neuronal plasticity modulation under mTOR signaling, and how the mTOR-targeted therapeutic intervention could be more efficient in clinical management have yet to be answered.

Within this Research Topic, we encourage the submission of Original Research, Brief Research Report, Methods, Mini Review, Perspective, Review, and Study Protocol that explore the complex function of the mTOR pathway in the context of neurodevelopmental disorders, such as epilepsy, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and intellectual disability, as well as targeted therapeutic intervention.

We encourage the following subtopics, but are not limited to:

• The mechanisms of PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway regulation in neurodevelopment

• Dysregulation of PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling in neurodevelopmental disorders

• Efforts on the development of therapeutic intervention targeting malfunctional mTOR signaling and modulated molecules in neurodevelopmental disorders

• The mechanisms of neuronal plasticity modulation under mTOR signaling

Keywords: mTOR, neural development, neuroplasticity, neurodevelopmental disorders, targeted therapies, epilepsy, autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

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