Oliver's mTOR Atlas Evidence Platform
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Michael N. Hall

Discovered TOR in yeast in 1991 and established it as a central controller of cell growth that responds to nutrients. His lab later showed that TOR works in two distinct complexes, TORC1 and TORC2, only one of which is blocked by rapamycin

Biozentrum, University of Basel, Switzerland · Lasker, Gairdner & Breakthrough Prize laureate · Born 1953, Puerto Rico

Hall Lab, Biozentrum Basel (Basel, Switzerland) ↗ Lab lineagetrained under Ira Herskowitz → ORCID0000-0002-2998-0757 ↗

Michael N. Hall Portrait via Wikimedia Commons

Michael Hall was born in Puerto Rico, grew up in Peru and Venezuela, and came to the United States for school before training in molecular biology. As a young professor at the Biozentrum in Basel, Switzerland, he studied how yeast cells respond to the drug rapamycin. In 1991 his team found the genes rapamycin needs in order to work and named their product TOR — 'Target Of Rapamycin'. This was the original discovery on which the whole field is built.

Hall went on to show that TOR sits at the heart of a nutrient-sensing system controlling cell growth in organisms from yeast to humans, and that it forms two different machines, TORC1 and TORC2, with separate jobs. His lab connected TOR to metabolism, to the actin cytoskeleton, and to diseases such as cancer and diabetes.

For discovering TOR, Hall has received the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award, the Canada Gairdner International Award, and the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, among many others. The milestones below follow his contributions gathered in this Atlas.

Milestones in the Atlas

A selection, not a full bibliography: only papers that meet the Atlas inclusion criteria.

YearEvidenceStudy
1991 M Targets for cell cycle arrest by the immunosuppressant rapamycin in yeast HEI1991 The founding discovery: Hall's team finds the TOR genes and coins the name Target Of Rapamycin.
2002 M Two TOR complexes, only one of which is rapamycin sensitive, have distinct roles in cell growth control LOE2002 Reveals that TOR forms two distinct complexes, only one of which is blocked by rapamycin.
2004 M Mammalian TOR complex 2 controls the actin cytoskeleton and is rapamycin insensitive JAC2004 Shows that mammalian TORC2 controls the actin cytoskeleton and is rapamycin-insensitive.
2006 R TOR signaling in growth and metabolism WUL2006 Landmark review synthesizing TOR signalling in growth and metabolism across organisms.
2008 A Skeletal muscle-specific ablation of raptor, but not of rictor, causes metabolic changes and results in muscle dystrophy BEN2008 In mice, muscle-specific raptor loss (not rictor) causes dystrophy, showing mTORC1 is essential for muscle homeostasis.
2008 A Adipose-specific knockout of raptor results in lean mice with enhanced mitochondrial respiration POL2008 Adipose raptor knockout yields lean, metabolically protected mice, revealing mTORC1's role in fat metabolism.
2011 M Activation of mTORC2 by association with the ribosome ZIN2011 mTORC2 is activated by direct association with the ribosome downstream of PI3K.
2012 A Hepatic mTORC2 activates glycolysis and lipogenesis through Akt, glucokinase, and SREBP1c HAG2012 Senior author: liver mTORC2 drives glycolysis and fat synthesis after feeding through Akt, glucokinase and SREBP1c (mice).
2012 M Glutaminolysis activates Rag-mTORC1 signaling DUR2012 Glutaminolysis activates Rag-mTORC1 signalling through alpha-ketoglutarate production.
2013 R Where is mTOR and what is it doing there? BETZ2013 Review of where mTOR localizes and its compartmentalized functions.
2013 M mTOR complex 2-Akt signaling at mitochondria-associated endoplasmic reticulum membranes (MAM) regulates mitochondrial physiology BET2013 mTORC2-Akt signalling localizes to mitochondria-associated ER membranes to regulate mitochondrial function.
2013 M Quantitative phosphoproteomics reveal mTORC1 activates de novo pyrimidine synthesis ROB2013 Quantitative phosphoproteomics show mTORC1 activates de novo pyrimidine synthesis.
2014 R Making new contacts: the mTOR network in metabolism and signalling crosstalk SHI2014 Review of the mTOR network in metabolism and signalling crosstalk.
2015 M Architecture of human mTOR complex 1 AYL2015 Cryo-EM architecture of human mTORC1 reveals its dimeric organization and active site access.
2016 R mTOR Signaling Confers Resistance to Targeted Cancer Drugs GUR2016 Review of how mTOR signalling confers resistance to targeted cancer therapies.
2017 A mTORC2 Promotes Tumorigenesis via Lipid Synthesis GUR2017 mTORC2 promotes tumorigenesis through control of de novo lipid synthesis.
2018 R mTOR signalling and cellular metabolism are mutual determinants in cancer MOS2018 Review of mTOR and cellular metabolism as mutual determinants in cancer.
2018 M Architecture of the human mTORC2 core complex STU2018 Architecture of the human mTORC2 core complex (mTOR-Rictor-SIN1-mLST8).
2020 M The 3.2-Å resolution structure of human mTORC2. SCA2020 The 3.2 A cryo-EM structure of human mTORC2 pinpoints Rictor's C-terminus as the source of rapamycin insensitivity.
2022 R mTOR substrate phosphorylation in growth control BAT2022 Review cataloguing direct mTOR substrates and how mTORC1/2 achieve substrate specificity.

Co-authors in the Atlas 32

People with a profile here who share at least one study with Michael N. Hall.

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  • Markus A. Rüegg 4 shared studies Neurobiologist at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel who studies how muscles and the nerve connections that drive them develop, age and fail, including the role of mTOR signalling in muscle.
  • Timm Maier 4 shared studies Solved some of the first cryo-EM structures of human mTORC1 (with Nenad Ban's group) and mTORC2, including a high-resolution map of mTORC2
  • Daniel Boehringer 3 shared studies Electron microscopy specialist at ETH Zurich whose cryo-EM work underpins the Atlas structures of human mTORC1 and mTORC2
  • Charles Betz 3 shared studies Traced mTORC2 to a specific address inside the cell — the mitochondria-ER contact site
  • Mitsugu Shimobayashi 3 shared studies Metabolism researcher who trained with Michael Hall in Basel on mTOR in fat tissue and now leads a group at KU Leuven studying how fat and liver control sugar and lipid storage
  • Nenad Ban 3 shared studies Structural biologist known for atomic structures of the ribosome and for work on how cells make, fold and sort proteins.
  • Robbie Loewith 3 shared studies Showed, as first author in Michael Hall's lab, that yeast TOR exists as two distinct complexes, the basis of the TORC1/TORC2 framework
  • Stefan Imseng 3 shared studies Structural biologist from Timm Maier's group at the Biozentrum Basel who helped solve the first detailed structures of human mTORC1 and mTORC2 and then worked on a drug to block mTORC1 specifically
  • Alain Scaiola 2 shared studies Structural biologist in Nenad Ban's group at ETH Zurich who solved the 3.2-angstrom cryo-EM structure of human mTORC2 and works on how ribosomes are built and how new proteins are processed
  • Daniele Stracka 2 shared studies Co-author of two studies from Michael Hall's laboratory in Basel that placed mTORC2, the second mTOR complex, at the ribosome and at contact sites between the endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria
  • Edward Stuttfeld 2 shared studies Structural biologist who led the 2018 eLife study that gave the first detailed picture of the human mTORC2 core complex, working in Timm Maier's lab in Basel
  • Estela Jacinto 2 shared studies Co-discovered mammalian mTORC2 as a postdoc in Michael Hall's lab, showing that it controls the actin cytoskeleton and is insensitive to rapamycin. Her Rutgers lab, with Bing Su's group, was among those that found SIN1 holds mTORC2 together and studies how both mTOR complexes control metabolism
  • Evelyn Sauer 2 shared studies Structural biologist at the Biozentrum Basel who worked on the structure of the mTOR kinase and contributed to the cryo-EM structures of human mTORC1 and mTORC2
  • Christopher Aylett 2 shared studies Structural biologist who solved the first cryo-EM architecture of human mTORC1 at ETH Zurich and now leads a cryo-EM group at Imperial College London
  • Marion Cornu 2 shared studies Physiologist from Michael Hall's Basel lab who showed in mice that mTORC1 in the liver controls body temperature, movement and fat metabolism through the hormone FGF21
  • Nadine Cybulski 2 shared studies Cell biologist from Michael Hall's Basel lab who showed that mTORC2 in fat tissue helps control how big the whole body grows
  • Yakir Guri 2 shared studies Showed mTORC2 drives liver cancer by rewiring lipid and sphingolipid synthesis
  • Aaron M. Robitaille Mass spectrometry scientist who, as a PhD student in Michael Hall's lab, used phosphoproteomics to show that mTORC1 switches on the cell's production of pyrimidines, and who now works on proteomics applications at Thermo Fisher Scientific
  • Asami Hagiwara First author of a 2012 mouse study from Michael Hall's lab showing that liver mTORC2 tells the liver that the animal has eaten, by switching on sugar breakdown and fat production
  • C. Florian Bentzinger Muscle stem cell biologist at the Université de Sherbrooke who, as a PhD student in Basel, showed that mTORC1 but not mTORC2 is essential for healthy skeletal muscle
  • Dirk Mossmann Biochemist in Michael Hall's Basel lab who studies how mTOR and nutrients rewire metabolism in liver cancer, and first author of the 2023 Cell study showing that arginine drives liver tumour metabolism
  • Joseph Heitman Co-discovered the TOR genes in yeast in 1991 as a first author with Rao Movva and Michael Hall, the genetic identification of what became known as mTOR in mammals
  • Markus H. Heim Basel hepatologist who studies how the liver responds to viral infection and how liver cancer develops, and a co-author of the study linking mTORC2 to fat synthesis in liver tumours
  • Paul Jenoe Protein chemist who ran mass spectrometry and protein sequencing at the Biozentrum Basel for decades and contributed protein analysis to many mTOR studies from Michael Hall's lab
  • Pazit Polak Cell biologist from Michael Hall's Basel lab who showed, in mice, that switching off mTORC1 in fat tissue alone makes animals lean and protects them from diet-induced obesity
  • Raúl V. Durán Cell biologist who showed that glutamine breakdown feeds amino acid signalling to mTORC1, and who now leads research on mTOR, glutamine metabolism and cancer at CABIMER in Seville
  • Shuo Lin Co-author of the 2008 mouse study showing that muscle needs raptor, the mTORC1 component, to stay healthy
  • Stefania Battaglioni Cell biologist in Michael Hall's group at the Biozentrum Basel, first author of a 2022 Cell review that catalogued the direct substrates of mTOR
  • Stephan Wullschleger Biochemist trained in Michael Hall's Basel lab on TOR complex 2 in yeast, and first author of the widely cited 2006 Cell review that laid out the two TOR complexes and what each controls
  • Suzette Moes Protein scientist at the Biozentrum Basel's proteomics facility who, with Paul Jenö, carried out mass spectrometry for many mTOR studies from Michael Hall's lab
  • Vittoria Zinzalla Cell biologist who, in Michael Hall's Basel lab, found that mTORC2 is switched on by binding to ribosomes, and later moved to cancer pharmacology at Boehringer Ingelheim in Vienna
  • Wolfgang Oppliger Long-serving Biozentrum researcher who worked for more than two decades in Basel labs, first on how proteins enter mitochondria and then on TOR signalling with Michael Hall

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On the programme

Meetings in the Atlas calendar where Michael N. Hall is listed among the speakers or organisers.

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