Description
Temsirolimus is an analog of rapamycin found to be active against several cancer types. Like rapamycin, temsirolimus is also an mTOR inhibitor. Temsirolimus has shown activity against brain, rhabdomyosarcoma, multiple myeloma, breast, tuberous sclerosis complex, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, pancreatic, prostate, neuroendocrine, renal cell carcinoma, neuroblastoma, and several other cancer types. When treated with temsirolimus, oral squamous cell carcinoma cell’s proliferation and migration were inhibited in vitro and growth of xenografts was suppressed in vivo. Furthermore, in animal models of Parkinson’s disease, treatment with temsirolimus led to increased expression of markers including tyrosine hydroxylase and dopamine transporter and also decreased the upregulation of alpha-synuclein in the substantia nigra after MPTP-induced neurotoxicity. Temsirolimus was found to modulate the autophagic process and the neuroinflammatory pathway in Parkinson’s disease, demonstrating a neuroprotective effect.