mTOR complex 2 is required for the development of prostate cancer induced by Pten loss in mice

Guertin DA, Sabatini DM et al. · 2009 · Cancer cell · Atlas ID GUE2009

What this study shows

mTORC2 is required for prostate cancer driven by Pten loss in mice.

Abstract

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mTOR complex 2 (mTORC2) contains the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) kinase and the Rictor regulatory protein and phosphorylates Akt. Whether this function of mTORC2 is critical for cancer progression is unknown. Here, we show that transformed human prostate epithelial cells lacking PTEN require mTORC2 to form tumors when injected into nude mice. Furthermore, we find that Rictor is a haploinsufficient gene and that deleting one copy protects Pten heterozygous mice from prostate cancer.

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At a glance

Evidence type	A Animal model Marked A because it is an animal intervention or observation study measuring an organismal outcome (model: Mouse (prostate)); the code names the system studied -- animal work can be rigorous and still not be human data.
Study type	4 - Animal Study
Model system	Mouse (prostate)
Journal	Cancer cell
Year	2009
Peer reviewed	Yes
Record last updated	2026-08-22
Source	DOI 10.1016/j.ccr.2008.12.017 · PMID 19185849 · Free full text (PMC2701381)

Extracted findings

Intervention	Genetic (Rictor/mTORC2 deletion; Pten loss)
Target	mTORC2 (Rictor) / Akt
Model	Mouse (prostate)
Effect	mTORC2 is required for prostate cancer driven by Pten loss; Rictor is haploinsufficient
Dose	not stated
Sample size	Pten +/- mice (n=9), Pten +/- Rictor +/- mice (n=10), wild-type controls (n=10) for prostate cancer analysis.
Effect size	PC-3 xenografts: shLuc-expressing cells formed tumors of 312 mm 3; shRictor 1 and shRictor 2 cells formed tumors of 10.1 mm 3 (p=0.01) and 39.6 mm 3 (p=0.01). Ki67 positive cells: 2.3% in Pten +/- Rictor +/- vs 10.7% in Pten +/- (p < 0.001).
Limitations	Specific inhibitors of mTORC2 are unavailable, precluding pharmacological testing. Differences in genetic background between Rictor +/- mice and mtor/Raptor/mlst8 heterozygous mice precluded prostate cancer analysis in some cohorts.

In the Atlas

Cite this paper

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Guertin, D. A., et al. (2009). mTOR complex 2 is required for the development of prostate cancer induced by Pten loss in mice. Cancer cell. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccr.2008.12.017

@article{GUE2009,
  author       = {Guertin, D. A. and Sabatini, D. M. and others},
  title        = {{mTOR complex 2 is required for the development of prostate cancer induced by Pten loss in mice}},
  journal      = {Cancer cell},
  year         = {2009},
  doi          = {10.1016/j.ccr.2008.12.017},
  note         = {PMID: 19185849},
}

Cite this Atlas record

The record is the Atlas's own work — the evidence label, the extracted findings and the links. It is cited as part of the dataset, not as the paper.

Barton, O. (2026). Oliver's mTOR Atlas (record GUE2009) [Data set]. https://mtor-atlas.org/study/GUE2009/ · Dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22059963

@misc{atlas_GUE2009,
  author       = {Barton, Oliver},
  title        = {{Oliver's mTOR Atlas}, record GUE2009},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://mtor-atlas.org/study/GUE2009/},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.22059963}
}