Shawn M. Ferguson
Showed that mTORC1 phosphorylates TFEB to keep the lysosome-building program switched off, and that folliculin is required at the lysosome for amino acids to recruit and activate mTORC1
Professor of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Yale School of Medicine · postdoc, Yale (Pietro De Camilli) · PhD Neuroscience, Vanderbilt · BS/MS, Univ. of Ottawa
Ferguson Lab, Yale School of Medicine (New Haven, Connecticut, USA) ↗ Lab lineagetrained under Pietro De Camilli → Bluesky@shawnferguson.bsky.social ↗ ORCID0000-0002-3092-7718 ↗
Portrait: Yale School of Medicine
Showed (ROC2012) mTORC1 phosphorylates TFEB (Ser211), recruiting 14-3-3 to trap it in the cytoplasm — independent, complementary work to the Settembre/Ballabio TFEB papers. Follow-up (PET2013): folliculin (FLCN, a Birt-Hogg-Dubé tumor suppressor) binds RagA at the lysosome and is required for amino acids to recruit mTORC1 there. Watch the direction, which the paper's title invites you to get backwards: FLCN's own lysosomal localisation rises when amino acids are WITHDRAWN. What depends on amino acids is the recruitment of mTORC1, and that step needs FLCN.
Trained in neuroscience before shifting to lysosome cell biology with De Camilli at Yale; now studies lysosomal adaptation and neurodegenerative disease (Parkinson's, ALS, FTD, Alzheimer's).
Milestones in the Atlas
A selection, not a full bibliography: only papers that meet the Atlas inclusion criteria.
| Year | Evidence | Study |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | M | The transcription factor TFEB links mTORC1 signaling to transcriptional control of lysosome homeostasis ROC2012 mTORC1 phosphorylates TFEB to keep it cytoplasmically sequestered via 14-3-3. |
| 2013 | M | Recruitment of folliculin to lysosomes supports the amino acid-dependent activation of Rag GTPases PET2013 FLCN binds RagA at the lysosome and is required for amino-acid-driven recruitment of mTORC1; FLCN's own lysosomal localisation rises when amino acids are withdrawn. |
Co-authors in the Atlas 2
People with a profile here who share at least one study with Shawn M. Ferguson.
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- Agnes Roczniak-Ferguson Cell biologist in Shawn Ferguson's lab at Yale who showed that mTORC1 phosphorylates the transcription factor TFEB to control lysosome and autophagy genes, and who studies lysosome biology in neurodegenerative disease
- Constance Petit Cell biologist who showed, in Shawn Ferguson's lab at Yale, that folliculin moves onto lysosomes when amino acids run out and is needed to switch on the Rag GTPases
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