Mechanisms of life span extension by rapamycin in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster

Bjedov I, Toivonen JM, Kerr F, Slack C, Jacobson J, Foley A, Partridge L · 2010 · Cell Metabolism · Atlas ID BJE2010

What this study shows

Feeding rapamycin extended fly lifespan through autophagy and reduced translation, and worked even in flies already on a lifespan-maximizing diet.

Abstract

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The target of rapamycin (TOR) pathway is a major nutrient-sensing pathway that, when genetically downregulated, increases life span in evolutionarily diverse organisms including mammals. The central component of this pathway, TOR kinase, is the target of the inhibitory drug rapamycin, a highly specific and well-described drug approved for human use. We show here that feeding rapamycin to adult Drosophila produces the life span extension seen in some TOR mutants. Increase in life span by rapamycin was associated with increased resistance to both starvation and paraquat.

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At a glance

Evidence type	A Animal model Marked A because it is an animal intervention or observation study measuring an organismal outcome (model: Drosophila melanogaster); the code names the system studied -- animal work can be rigorous and still not be human data.
Study type	4 - Animal Study
Model system	Drosophila melanogaster
Journal	Cell Metabolism
Year	2010
Peer reviewed	Yes
Record last updated	2026-10-01
Source	DOI 10.1016/j.cmet.2009.11.010 · PMID 20074526 · Free full text (PMC2824086)

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	Rapamycin (feeding)
Target	TOR
Model	Drosophila melanogaster
Effect	Feeding rapamycin extends fly lifespan via autophagy and reduced translation
Dose	Rapamycin administered by feeding from early adulthood at 50, 200, and 400 μM; 200 μM produced the largest increase in median life span. Concentration in flies fed 200 μM food was 3.3 ± 0.2 ng/mg wet weight.
Sample size	Flies of diverse genetic (w1118, yw, ovoD mutant) and cytoplasmic (Wolbachia-free) backgrounds, and both sexes were tested.
Effect size	Significant life span extension occurred at 50, 200, and 400 μM rapamycin, with 200 μM producing the largest increase in median life span. Rapamycin also significantly increased stress resistance (starvation, paraquat) and elevated triacylglyceride (TAG) levels, while reducing female fecundity in a dose-dependent manner.
Limitations	not stated

In the Atlas

Open questions that cite this study

Cited as supporting evidence for the open question Is autophagy actually REQUIRED for the mammalian lifespan benefit?.

Answers that reference this study

Discussed in the plain-language answer Is autophagy actually required for the lifespan benefit of mTOR inhibition?.

Cite this paper

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Bjedov, I., Toivonen, J. M., Kerr, F., Slack, C., Jacobson, J., Foley, A., & Partridge, L. (2010). Mechanisms of life span extension by rapamycin in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Cell Metabolism. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2009.11.010

@article{BJE2010,
  author       = {Bjedov, I. and Toivonen, J. M. and Kerr, F. and Slack, C. and Jacobson, J. and Foley, A. and Partridge, L.},
  title        = {{Mechanisms of life span extension by rapamycin in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster}},
  journal      = {Cell Metabolism},
  year         = {2010},
  doi          = {10.1016/j.cmet.2009.11.010},
  note         = {PMID: 20074526},
}

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 BJE2010) [Data set]. https://mtor-atlas.org/study/BJE2010/ · Dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22059963

@misc{atlas_BJE2010,
  author       = {Barton, Oliver},
  title        = {{Oliver's mTOR Atlas}, record BJE2010},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://mtor-atlas.org/study/BJE2010/},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.22059963}
}

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