Akt/mTOR pathway is a crucial regulator of skeletal muscle hypertrophy and can prevent muscle atrophy in vivo

Bodine SC, Stitt TN, Gonzalez M, Kline WO, Stover GL, Bauerlein R, Zlotchenko E, Scrimgeour A, Lawrence JC, Glass DJ, Yancopoulos GD · 2001 · Nature cell biology · Atlas ID BOD2001

What this study shows

Akt/mTOR signalling is necessary and sufficient to drive skeletal-muscle hypertrophy and counteract atrophy in vivo.

Abstract

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Skeletal muscles adapt to changes in their workload by regulating fibre size by unknown mechanisms. The roles of two signalling pathways implicated in muscle hypertrophy on the basis of findings in vitro, Akt/mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) and calcineurin/NFAT (nuclear factor of activated T cells), were investigated in several models of skeletal muscle hypertrophy and atrophy in vivo. The Akt/mTOR pathway was upregulated during hypertrophy and downregulated during muscle atrophy.

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); 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
Journal	Nature cell biology
Year	2001
Peer reviewed	Yes
Record last updated	2026-10-01
Source	DOI 10.1038/ncb1101-1014 · PMID 11715023

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/pharmacologic (Akt/mTOR; rapamycin)
Target	Akt / mTOR
Model	Mouse; muscle
Effect	Akt/mTOR is necessary and sufficient for skeletal muscle hypertrophy and prevents atrophy in vivo

In the Atlas

Links in the pathway map

Supports Protein synthesis activates Muscle growth
Supports Resistance exercise / mechanical load activates mTORC1

Learn the biology

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Cite this paper

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Bodine, S. C., Stitt, T. N., Gonzalez, M., Kline, W. O., Stover, G. L., Bauerlein, R., Zlotchenko, E., Scrimgeour, A., Lawrence, J. C., Glass, D. J., & Yancopoulos, G. D. (2001). Akt/mTOR pathway is a crucial regulator of skeletal muscle hypertrophy and can prevent muscle atrophy in vivo. Nature cell biology. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb1101-1014

@article{BOD2001,
  author       = {Bodine, S. C. and Stitt, T. N. and Gonzalez, M. and Kline, W. O. and Stover, G. L. and Bauerlein, R. and Zlotchenko, E. and Scrimgeour, A. and Lawrence, J. C. and Glass, D. J. and Yancopoulos, G. D.},
  title        = {{Akt/mTOR pathway is a crucial regulator of skeletal muscle hypertrophy and can prevent muscle atrophy in vivo}},
  journal      = {Nature cell biology},
  year         = {2001},
  doi          = {10.1038/ncb1101-1014},
  note         = {PMID: 11715023},
}

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 BOD2001) [Data set]. https://mtor-atlas.org/study/BOD2001/ · Dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22059963

@misc{atlas_BOD2001,
  author       = {Barton, Oliver},
  title        = {{Oliver's mTOR Atlas}, record BOD2001},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://mtor-atlas.org/study/BOD2001/},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.22059963}
}

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