Oliver's mTOR Atlas Evidence Platform
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Oliver Barton

Creator & Curator — Prague, Czech Republic — Age 15

Oliver Barton

I am a high school student in Prague with a self-directed research interest in mTOR signaling, longevity biology, and evidence-based science curation. I built Oliver's mTOR Atlas myself, with a bit of help from AI along the way, to create the kind of resource I wished existed when I began reading primary literature on the pathway: one structured database that holds studies, mechanisms, interventions, and honest evidence grades side by side, rather than scattered across dozens of review articles and pathway maps.

My current focus is mTOR regulation under dynamic rather than steady-state conditions — most of the literature treats mTORC1/mTORC2 activity as fixed rather than something that shifts over time in a real cell. I am interested in whether the pattern of activity over time — not just its average level — is what actually shapes outcomes like autophagy or growth, one of the open questions raised in this Atlas's Open Questions tab.

Related studies — current research focus

The foundational and most closely related studies behind the “pattern over time, not just average level” question above, newest first:

YearEvidenceStudyAuthors
2026 M Inferring feedback regulation from static snapshots of a single signal A method for reading a signal’s change over time out of still images — and it finds AKT feedback that exists only in a narrow window at G1/S, which the authors attribute to mTORC1/S6K1→IRS1 while stating their data do not establish that edge uniquely. Ginzberg M Kafri R
2026 M Mathematical modeling of dietary timing- and protein quality-responsive liver circadian clock and its function on ribosome biogenesis Treats mTORC1 as a rhythm set by the timing and quality of amino acid intake rather than a fixed level, and asks what the shape of that rhythm does to ribosome biogenesis. A prediction, not a measurement — the model is in silico. LLLu L Androulakis IP
2026 M Fluorescent protein ticker tape (FPTT): Multiplexed recording of transcriptional dynamics in living cells and in vivo A new multiplexed live-cell biosensor platform that, built and validated independently of JOS2024, directly visualized mTOR activity oscillating across the cell cycle — orthogonal confirmation that the pattern of mTOR signaling over time is a real, reproducible phenomenon rather than an artifact of one assay. Wang R JJJiang J
2024 M mTORC1 activity oscillates throughout the cell cycle, promoting mitotic entry and differentially influencing autophagy induction The paper that sparked this focus — mTORC1 activity is lowest in mitosis/G1 and highest in S/G2, and this timing, not just average level, shapes autophagy sensitivity. Joshi JN Valvezan AJ
2019 R Molecular logic of mTORC1 signalling as a metabolic rheostat Conceptual framework from Joshi 2024's own senior author — mTORC1 as a graded rheostat rather than an on/off switch. Valvezan AJ Manning BD
2017 M mTORC1 Couples Nucleotide Synthesis to Nucleotide Demand Resulting in a Targetable Metabolic Vulnerability Same lab's translational angle — TSC-mutant cells' nucleotide synthesis as a druggable weak point. Valvezan AJ Manning BD
2014 M Spatial control of the TSC complex integrates insulin and nutrient regulation of mTORC1 at the lysosome Closest mechanistic precedent to the “timing, not just level” question — shows TSC complex localization, not just abundance, gates mTORC1. Menon S Manning BD
2012 M TBC1D7 is a third subunit of the TSC1-TSC2 complex upstream of mTORC1 Completed the parts list of the TSC complex whose GAP activity Joshi 2024 studies across the cell cycle. Dibble CC Manning BD
2003 M Tuberous sclerosis complex gene products, Tuberin and Hamartin, control mTOR signaling by acting as a GTPase-activating protein complex toward Rheb Founding paper — first to show TSC1/TSC2 acting as the GAP complex for Rheb, the discovery the whole TSC→mTORC1 axis rests on. Tee AR Cantley LC
2003 M Rheb GTPase is a direct target of TSC2 GAP activity and regulates mTOR signaling Companion founding paper, published independently and simultaneously with Tee et al. 2003 — same weight, same discovery. Inoki K Guan KL
2002 M TSC2 is phosphorylated and inhibited by Akt and suppresses mTOR signalling Established the Akt→TSC2→mTOR link — the exact “known regulatory input” Joshi 2024 shows is bypassed during interphase. Inoki K Guan KL

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to the people who have helped me along the way towards understanding mTOR — in no particular order.