Fig. 3.

The anti-growth effect of AICAR is only partially mediated through inhibition of mTOR signaling. (A) U87/EGFRvIII cells were treated by AICAR (0.5 mM) or rapamycin (1 nM) for 6 h, then detected by western blotting using indicated antibodies. (B) Western blot analysis demonstrated that rapamycin, although less effective at inhibiting the growth of U87-EGFRvIII-PTEN cells, more completely inhibited S6K and S6 phorphorylation than did AICAR. (C) Reconstitution of PTEN desensitized U87-EGFRvIII glioblastoma cells to rapamycin, but not AICAR. Controls cells were treated by ethanol (1:1,000).