Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a serine and threonine protein kinase that regulates numerous cellular functions, in particular, the initiation of protein translation. Rapamycin is a natural product macrolide that induces G1 growth arrest in yeast, Drosophila, and mammalian cells. mTOR has a long list of synonyms including FK506 binding protein12 - rapamycin associated protein 1, FK506 binding protein12 - rapamycin associated protein 2, FRAP1, FRAP2, RAFT1, RAPT1 and/or FKBP12-rapamycin associated protein (FRAP). mTOR is one of a family of proteins involved in cell cycle progression, DNA recombination, and DNA damage detection. In rat, mTOR is a 245-kD protein referred to as RAFT1 with significant homology to the Saccharomyces cerevisiae protein TOR1 and has been shown to associate with the immunophilin FKBP12 in a rapamycin-dependent fashion. The FKBP12-rapamycin complex is known to inhibit progression through the G1 cell cycle stage by interfering with mitogenic signaling pathways involved in G1 progression in several cell types, as well as in yeast. The binding of mTOR to FKBP12-rapamycin correlates with the ability of these ligands to inhibit cell cycle progression.