Cap-dependent translation - the main output mTORC1 exists to control, and the step where a signalling decision becomes physical growth.
Making new proteins.
Controlled through 4E-BP/eIF4E and S6K1/PDCD4/eIF4A arms; ribosome-profiling shows the response is transcript-selective, not uniform.
| Tier | What it means | Studies |
|---|---|---|
| B | Direct human evidence | 1 |
| C | Animal in vivo | 1 |
| D | Mechanistic / in vitro / review | 4 |
| Study | Year | Tier | Finding |
|---|---|---|---|
| DRU2009 | 2009 | B | Rapamycin given before resistance exercise completely blocked the normal post-exercise increase in human muscle protein synthesis. |
| BOD2001 | 2001 | C | Akt/mTOR signalling is necessary and sufficient to drive skeletal-muscle hypertrophy and counteract atrophy in vivo. |
| FAN2026 | 2026 | D | mTORC1 inhibition does not restore ribosome biogenesis but redistributes limited ribosomes away from highly-translated 5'TOP mRNAs toward survival-essential transcripts, defining a 'translational fitn |
| HSI2012 | 2012 | D | Showed WHY mTOR-driven translation matters for cancer: in prostate cancer, oncogenic mTOR selectively translates a specific set of pro-invasion mRNAs that drive metastasis. An ATP-competitive mTOR inh |
| MAX2009 | 2009 | D | Review of the molecular mechanisms of mTOR-mediated translational control. |
| DOR2006 | 2006 | D | S6K1 triggers betaTRCP-mediated degradation of the tumour suppressor PDCD4 to promote translation. |