Research Progress on mTOR-mediated Signaling Network Regulating Airway Remodeling in Asthma

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airway, in which tissue damage repair caused by chronic inflammation leads to changes in airway structure. This pathological airway remodeling is the direct cause of irreversible decline in lung function in asthma patients. The mammalian target protein of rapamycin(mTOR) plays a key regulatory role in airway remodeling processes such as metaplasia and mucus hypersecretion in asthmatic goblet cells, differentiation of myofibroblasts and formation of extracellular matrix, as well as proliferation and hypertrophy of smooth muscle cells. Therefore, mTOR and its mediated signaling network have become a new research hotspot in asthma airway remodeling in recent years. This article reviews the molecular mechanisms of mTOR in regulating asthma airway remodeling from the perspective of signal targets such as PI3K/AKT, AMPK, and NF-κB, providing a theoretical basis for the study of asthma airway remodeling mechanisms and the development of new drugs.