Kuang Shen
Solved cryo-EM structures of the GATOR1 and FLCN-Ragulator complexes that gate mTORC1
PhD, postdoc, David Sabatini lab, Whitehead Institute/MIT · Associate Professor, Program in Molecular Medicine, UMass Chan Medical School
Shen Lab, UMass Chan ↗ Bluesky@shenk0128.bsky.social ↗
Portrait: Shen Lab, UMass Chan Medical School
Kuang Shen trained as a structural biologist in David Sabatini's lab, applying cryo-electron microscopy to the amino-acid-sensing machinery that switches mTORC1 on and off at the lysosome.
He solved structures of GATOR1 and the GATOR1-Rag GTPases complex, the GAP machinery that turns mTORC1 off in the absence of amino acids, and of the FLCN-FNIP2-Rag-Ragulator complex, revealing at near-atomic detail how these complexes physically engage the Rag GTPases to control their nucleotide state. He now runs his own structural-biology lab at UMass Chan Medical School, studying the mTORC1 pathway with cryo-EM, single-molecule and enzyme-kinetic methods.
The timeline below follows Shen's contributions gathered in this Atlas.
Milestones in the Atlas
| Year | Evidence | Study |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | M | The CASTOR Proteins Are Arginine Sensors for the mTORC1 Pathway CHA2016 Co-authors the discovery that the CASTOR proteins are arginine sensors for the mTORC1 pathway. |
| 2018 | M | Architecture of the human GATOR1 and GATOR1-Rag GTPases complexes SHE2018 Solves the architecture of the human GATOR1 and GATOR1-Rag GTPases complexes, the GAP machinery that switches mTORC1 off. |
| 2019 | M | Cryo-EM Structure of the Human FLCN-FNIP2-Rag-Ragulator Complex SHE2019 Solves the cryo-EM structure of the human FLCN-FNIP2-Rag-Ragulator complex. |
On the programme
Meetings in the Atlas calendar where Kuang Shen is listed among the speakers or organisers.
- past Prague Metabolism and Signaling Symposium 2026 ↗ 24–27 Jun 2026 · Prague, Czech Republic · Tier 1