Cellular recycling process suppressed by mTORC1 and activated upon its inhibition; linked to longevity.
| Tier | What it means | Studies |
|---|---|---|
| C | Animal in vivo | 9 |
| D | Mechanistic / in vitro / review | 8 |
No direct human evidence in the Atlas for this entity yet — everything below rests on animal or mechanistic work.
| Study | Year | Tier | Finding |
|---|---|---|---|
| LIS2026 | 2026 | C | Notoginsenoside R1 alleviates acetaminophen-induced acute liver injury by activating protective autophagy through MAPK/mTOR pathway modulation, reducing hepatocyte death and oxidative damage. |
| SONH2026 | 2026 | C | Urolithin A ameliorates HFpEF cardiac remodeling in mice by activating AMPK and inhibiting mTOR to restore mitophagic flux, while simultaneously remodeling the gut microbiome-ceramide axis to reduce l |
| VER2026 | 2026 | C | Testosterone propionate protects against CCl4-induced liver fibrosis by maintaining mTOR-regulated autophagic flux via the LC3B/p62/Beclin-1 axis, preserving mitochondrial integrity; castration worsen |
| PYO2013 | 2013 | C | Mice engineered with extra copies of the autophagy gene Atg5 lived 17% longer and were leaner and more insulin-sensitive. |
| BJE2010 | 2010 | C | Feeding rapamycin extended fly lifespan through autophagy and reduced translation, and worked even in flies already on a lifespan-maximizing diet. |
| CAC2010 | 2010 | C | Revealed a vicious cycle: amyloid-beta RAISES mTOR activity, and high mTOR in turn blocks the autophagy needed to clear amyloid and tau - so the disease feeds itself. Rapamycin broke the loop in 3xTg- |
| SPI2010 | 2010 | C | Connected the longevity drug to a specific age-related disease. Long-term rapamycin prevented memory deficits and lowered toxic amyloid-beta in an Alzheimer's mouse model - and the benefit tracked wit |
| RAV2004 | 2004 | C | Rapamycin-induced autophagy cleared toxic clumped proteins and improved symptoms in fly and mouse models of Huntington's disease. |
| MEL2003 | 2003 | C | Worms lacking the autophagy gene bec-1 lost the lifespan-extending benefit of reduced insulin-like signaling - autophagy is mechanistically required for longevity, not just correlated. |
| BO2026 | 2026 | D | Gambogic acid exerts anti-tumor activity in lung cancer cells primarily by targeting and inhibiting mTOR signaling, demonstrated through integrated computational docking and in vitro experimental vali |
| JOS2024 | 2024 | D | mTORC1 activity oscillates across the cell cycle (lowest in mitosis/G1, highest in S/G2) via the TSC complex, independent of Akt/Mek-Erk; low mTORC1 in G1 sensitizes cells to autophagy induction from |
| LIU2020 | 2020 | D | The flagship modern review of the whole field, from Sabatini's own lab (Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology). Maps 25+ years of mTOR biology - how it senses nutrients, controls growth and autophagy, |
| MAR2012 | 2012 | D | Pinned down the direct mTORC1-TFEB link: mTORC1 (docked at the lysosome via Ragulator) phosphorylates TFEB on Ser211, which traps it in the cytosol via 14-3-3 proteins. Inhibit mTORC1 and TFEB rushes |
| KIM2011 | 2011 | D | Revealed the tug-of-war over ULK1: the energy sensor AMPK phosphorylates ULK1 at activating sites to turn autophagy ON when energy is low, while mTORC1 phosphorylates a different site (Ser757) to keep |
| LOF2011 | 2011 | D | ULK1 phosphorylates and inhibits AMPK in return, showing autophagy signaling is a bidirectional feedback loop, not a one-way switch. |
| SET2011 | 2011 | D | Established TFEB as the single master switch that coordinates the WHOLE recycling program - it turns on both autophagosome and lysosome genes at once during starvation. This is the transcription facto |
| HOS2009 | 2009 | D | Showed the DIRECT brake mTORC1 uses on autophagy: when nutrients are plentiful, mTORC1 physically joins the ULK1-Atg13-FIP200 complex (the autophagy-starter kinase) and phosphorylates ULK1 to keep it |