Skeletal muscle-specific ablation of raptor, but not of rictor, causes metabolic changes and results in muscle dystrophy

Bentzinger CF, Romanino K, Cloëtta D, Lin S, Mascarenhas JB, Oliveri F, Xia J, Casanova E, Costa CF, Brink M, Zorzato F, …, Rüegg MA · 2008 · Cell metabolism · Atlas ID BEN2008

What this study shows

In mice, muscle-specific raptor loss (not rictor) causes dystrophy, showing mTORC1 is essential for muscle homeostasis.

Abstract

ShowHide

Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a central controller of cell growth. mTOR assembles into two distinct multiprotein complexes called mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) and mTORC2. Here we show that the mTORC1 component raptor is critical for muscle function and prolonged survival. In contrast, muscles lacking the mTORC2 component rictor are indistinguishable from wild-type controls. Raptor-deficient muscles become progressively dystrophic, are impaired in their oxidative capacity, and contain increased glycogen stores, but they express structural components indicative of oxidative muscle fibers.

Read the full abstract on PubMed →

At a glance

Evidence type	A Animal model Marked A because it is an animal intervention or observation study measuring an organismal outcome (model: Mouse (muscle raptor/rictor KO)); the code names the system studied -- animal work can be rigorous and still not be human data.
Study type	4 - Animal Study
Model system	Mouse (muscle raptor/rictor KO)
Journal	Cell metabolism
Year	2008
Peer reviewed	Yes
Record last updated	2026-07-29
Source	DOI 10.1016/j.cmet.2008.10.002 · PMID 19046572

Extracted findings

These fields were extracted from the paper with AI assistance and have not been checked against the source. Read them as a pointer into the paper, not as curated claims; where they disagree with the curated summary above, the curated summary stands.

Intervention	Genetic – muscle-specific raptor KO (and rictor KO)
Target	mTORC1 (raptor) vs mTORC2 (rictor)
Model	Mouse (muscle raptor/rictor KO)
Effect	In mice, raptor loss (not rictor) causes progressive muscular dystrophy and metabolic changes – mTORC1 essential for muscle

In the Atlas

Links in the pathway map

Supports mTORC1 activates Mitochondrial biogenesis
Supports Raptor required-for mTORC1

Open questions that cite this study

Cited as supporting evidence for the open question Muscle-sparing, pulsed mTORC1 inhibition.

Cite this paper

ShowHide

Bentzinger, C. F., Romanino, K., Cloëtta, D., Lin, S., Mascarenhas, J. B., Oliveri, F., Xia, J., Casanova, E., Costa, C. F., Brink, M., Zorzato, F., Hall, M. N., & Rüegg, M. A. (2008). Skeletal muscle-specific ablation of raptor, but not of rictor, causes metabolic changes and results in muscle dystrophy. Cell metabolism. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2008.10.002

@article{BEN2008,
  author       = {Bentzinger, C. F. and Romanino, K. and Cloëtta, D. and Lin, S. and Mascarenhas, J. B. and Oliveri, F. and Xia, J. and Casanova, E. and Costa, C. F. and Brink, M. and Zorzato, F. and Hall, M. N. and Rüegg, M. A.},
  title        = {{Skeletal muscle-specific ablation of raptor, but not of rictor, causes metabolic changes and results in muscle dystrophy}},
  journal      = {Cell metabolism},
  year         = {2008},
  doi          = {10.1016/j.cmet.2008.10.002},
  note         = {PMID: 19046572},
}

Cite this Atlas record

The record is the Atlas's own work — the evidence label, the extracted findings and the links. It is cited as part of the dataset, not as the paper.

Barton, O. (2026). Oliver's mTOR Atlas (record BEN2008) [Data set]. https://mtor-atlas.org/study/BEN2008/ · Dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22059963

@misc{atlas_BEN2008,
  author       = {Barton, Oliver},
  title        = {{Oliver's mTOR Atlas}, record BEN2008},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://mtor-atlas.org/study/BEN2008/},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.22059963}
}

Was this page useful?