mTOR regulation and therapeutic rejuvenation of aging hematopoietic stem cells

Chen C, Liu Y, Liu Y, Zheng P · 2009 · Science signaling · Atlas ID CHE2009

What this study shows

mTOR hyperactivation drives HSC aging; rapamycin restores hematopoietic stem-cell function.

Abstract

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Age-related declines in hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) function may contribute to anemia, poor response to vaccination, and tumorigenesis. Here, we show that mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) activity is increased in HSCs from old mice compared to those from young mice. mTOR activation through conditional deletion of Tsc1 in the HSCs of young mice mimicked the phenotype of HSCs from aged mice in various ways.

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 (HSC)); 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 (HSC)
Journal	Science signaling
Year	2009
Peer reviewed	Yes
Record last updated	2026-10-01
Source	DOI 10.1126/scisignal.2000559 · PMID 19934433 · Free full text (PMC4020596)

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 (Tsc1 deletion) + rapamycin
Target	mTOR / TSC1
Model	Mouse (hematopoietic stem cells)
Effect	mTOR is elevated in aged HSCs; rapamycin rejuvenates HSC function and immune response
Dose	4 mg/kg rapamycin by i.p. injection every other day for 6 weeks
Sample size	9/12 vehicle-treated old mice succumbed to infection
Effect size	Pretreatment with rapamycin increased antigen-specific IgG by approximately 10 times; all rapamycin-treated mice were protected from lethal influenza infection, compared to 75% mortality in vehicle-treated old mice.
Limitations	not stated

In the Atlas

Links in the pathway map

Supports Rapamycin activates Longevity

Open questions that cite this study

Cited as supporting evidence for the open question Is there a low-dose mTOR schedule whose immune effects come out favourable, compartment by compartment?.

Cite this paper

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Chen, C., Liu, Y., Liu, Y., & Zheng, P. (2009). mTOR regulation and therapeutic rejuvenation of aging hematopoietic stem cells. Science signaling. https://doi.org/10.1126/scisignal.2000559

@article{CHE2009,
  author       = {Chen, C. and Liu, Y. and Liu, Y. and Zheng, P.},
  title        = {{mTOR regulation and therapeutic rejuvenation of aging hematopoietic stem cells}},
  journal      = {Science signaling},
  year         = {2009},
  doi          = {10.1126/scisignal.2000559},
  note         = {PMID: 19934433},
}

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 CHE2009) [Data set]. https://mtor-atlas.org/study/CHE2009/ · Dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22059963

@misc{atlas_CHE2009,
  author       = {Barton, Oliver},
  title        = {{Oliver's mTOR Atlas}, record CHE2009},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://mtor-atlas.org/study/CHE2009/},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.22059963}
}

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