Carson C. Thoreen
Used Torin1, one of the first ATP-competitive mTOR inhibitors, to reveal functions of mTORC1 that rapamycin cannot block. He then showed that mTORC1 controls translation of mRNAs for the protein-making machinery mainly through the 4E-BP proteins
Associate Professor of Cellular & Molecular Physiology, Yale School of Medicine · PhD, MIT (2008) · trained in the Sabatini lab, Whitehead Institute
Thoreen Lab, Yale (New Haven, Connecticut, USA) ↗ Lab lineagetrained under David M. Sabatini →
Carson Thoreen trained in David Sabatini's lab, where he helped characterize Torin1, an ATP-competitive mTOR inhibitor that, unlike rapamycin, fully blocks mTORC1 activity — revealing a whole set of rapamycin-resistant functions, especially in translation, that classic rapamycin treatment had been missing.
Building on that tool, Thoreen mapped how mTORC1 controls protein synthesis at the molecular level, proposing a unifying model in which mTORC1 phosphorylates 4E-BP proteins to release the translation initiation factor eIF4E, selectively boosting translation of mRNAs needed for cell growth. He now runs his own lab at Yale, studying how mTOR-dependent translation is wired at the level of individual mRNA sequences.
The timeline below follows Thoreen's contributions gathered in this Atlas.
Milestones in the Atlas
A selection, not a full bibliography: only papers that meet the Atlas inclusion criteria.
| Year | Evidence | Study |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | M | mSin1 is necessary for Akt/PKB phosphorylation, and its isoforms define three distinct mTORC2s FRI2006 mSin1 is required for mTORC2 assembly and Akt Ser473 phosphorylation; isoforms define distinct complexes. |
| 2006 | M | Ablation in mice of the mTORC components raptor, rictor, or mLST8 reveals that mTORC2 is required for signaling to Akt-FOXO and PKCalpha, but not S6K1 GUE2006 The foundational genetic 'dissection' of the two complexes in living mice. Deleting Raptor was lethal early (mTORC1 essential); deleting Rictor or mLST8 selectively knocked out mTORC2 signaling to Akt and PKCalpha but spared S6K1. This cleanly assigned jobs to each complex and showed mLST8 is an mTORC2-specific requirement in mice. |
| 2007 | M | PRAS40 is an insulin-regulated inhibitor of the mTORC1 protein kinase SAN2007 Identified PRAS40 as the missing insulin-controlled brake INSIDE mTORC1. When insulin is absent PRAS40 clamps the complex shut; insulin makes Akt phosphorylate PRAS40, releasing the brake so Rheb can fully switch mTORC1 on. Explained how hormone signals set the exact strength of mTORC1 activity. |
| 2008 | M | The Rag GTPases bind raptor and mediate amino acid signaling to mTORC1 SAN2008 Identifies the Rag GTPase family as the missing link that lets mTORC1 sense amino acids by controlling whether mTOR is positioned near its activator Rheb. |
| 2009 | M | An ATP-competitive mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor reveals rapamycin-resistant functions of mTORC1 THO2009 Develops an ATP-competitive mTOR inhibitor that reveals rapamycin-resistant functions of mTORC1. |
| 2009 | M | DEPTOR is an mTOR inhibitor frequently overexpressed in multiple myeloma cells and required for their survival PET2009 Identified DEPTOR as a built-in brake on BOTH mTOR complexes. The twist: in some multiple myelomas DEPTOR is overexpressed, which by relieving a feedback loop actually keeps pro-survival Akt signaling ON - a neat example of how an 'inhibitor' can be co-opted by cancer. |
| 2012 | M | A unifying model for mTORC1-mediated regulation of mRNA translation THO2012 Proposes a unifying model for how mTORC1 controls mRNA translation through 4E-BP and eIF4E. |
Co-authors in the Atlas 15
People with a profile here who share at least one study with Carson C. Thoreen.
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- David M. Sabatini 7 shared studies Identified mTOR (as RAFT1) in 1994. His lab then mapped much of the machinery around it: raptor and rictor at the core of mTORC1 and mTORC2, the Rag–Ragulator system that docks mTORC1 on the lysosome, and the sensors that detect leucine, arginine and SAM
- Nathanael S. Gray 3 shared studies Medicinal chemist whose lab designed Torin1, an ATP-competitive mTOR inhibitor that blocks functions of mTORC1 that rapamycin misses. His lab is also known for covalent kinase inhibitors and targeted protein degraders
- Seong A. Kang 3 shared studies Contributed to the Sabatini-lab studies that identified PRAS40 and DEPTOR, two of the cell's own mTOR inhibitors, and to the first characterisation of the mTOR inhibitor Torin1
- Timothy R. Peterson 3 shared studies Discovered DEPTOR, an inhibitor that binds mTOR in both complexes and is overexpressed in some multiple myelomas. He also showed that mTORC1 controls fat synthesis by regulating where the enzyme lipin 1 sits in the cell, and through it the SREBP pathway
- Yasemin Sancak 3 shared studies Showed as a Sabatini-lab graduate student, in parallel with Kun-Liang Guan's lab, that the Rag GTPases relay amino-acid signals to mTORC1, and that Ragulator anchors them to the lysosome where mTORC1 is switched on. She also identified PRAS40 as an insulin-regulated inhibitor of mTORC1
- Robert A Lindquist 2 shared studies Researcher in David Sabatini's group at the Whitehead Institute who ran large image-based RNAi screens for regulators of TORC1 signaling and helped build the CellProfiler image-analysis software
- David A. Guertin Built the mouse genetics that defined mTORC2's biological roles
- Liron Bar-Peled Showed as a Sabatini-lab graduate student that Ragulator switches the Rag GTPases on, acting as their GEF. He also discovered GATOR1 and GATOR2; GATOR1 switches the Rags off and its genes are mutated in some cancers
- Lynne Chantranupong Showed as a Sabatini-lab graduate student that the Sestrins act through GATOR2 to regulate amino-acid signalling to mTORC1. She then discovered the CASTOR proteins, the cell's arginine sensors for the pathway
- Maria A Frias Cancer biologist who did her doctoral research on mTORC2 in David Sabatini's lab and now teaches biology at St. Francis College in Brooklyn, while continuing work with David Foster on how the lipid phosphatidic acid controls mTOR
- Mathieu Laplante Co-wrote with David Sabatini one of the field's most cited reviews of mTOR in growth and disease, and his Laval lab studies how mTORC1 and DEPTOR control fat tissue and metabolism
- Nada Y. Kalaany Studies how a tumour's metabolism depends on the metabolic state of the whole body, and hunts for nutrient dependencies that can be turned into treatments
- Qingsong Liu Medicinal chemist in Nathanael Gray's lab who helped discover Torin1, an ATP-competitive mTOR inhibitor, and later built an independent kinase-inhibitor drug-discovery program in China
- Tim Wang Co-developed genome-wide CRISPR screening in human cells (reported in parallel by Feng Zhang's lab) as a graduate student with David Sabatini and Eric Lander, and contributed to studies showing that the 4E-BPs mediate mTORC1's control of translation and that CASTOR1 senses arginine
- W. Michael Kuehl Physician-scientist who spent decades working out the genetic and molecular biology of multiple myeloma and its precursor condition MGUS.
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