Since thrombin signalling through PAR-1 has previously been shown to involve phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), as mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and the extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2) [22], we examined whether SSc-IgG could initiate similar signalling pathways in HMECs. The gene discussed is MTOR; the disease is systemic sclerosis.