The mTOR kinase differentially regulates effector and regulatory T cell lineage commitment

Delgoffe GM, Powell JD et al. · 2009 · Immunity · Atlas ID DEL2009

What this study shows

T cells lacking mTOR fail to become normal effector cells and default toward regulatory T cells, showing mTOR is a master switch for immune cell fate.

Abstract

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Effector T cell differentiation requires the simultaneous integration of multiple, and sometimes opposing, cytokine signals. We demonstrated mTOR's role in dictating the outcome of T cell fate. mTOR-deficient T cells displayed normal activation and IL-2 production upon initial stimulation. However, such cells failed to differentiate into T helper 1 (Th1), Th2, or Th17 effector cells. The inability to differentiate was associated with decreased STAT transcription factor activation and failure to upregulate lineage-specific transcription factors.

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At a glance

Evidence type	M Molecular — cells, biochemistry, structure Marked M because it is molecular or in-vitro work (model: Mouse (T cells)) rather than a whole-organism health-outcome study. That is often exactly where causal biology gets established -- the code says which system the finding was shown in, and nothing about how good the work is.
Study type	5 - Mechanistic / In Vitro
Model system	Mouse (T cells)
Journal	Immunity
Year	2009
Peer reviewed	Yes
Record last updated	2026-08-22
Source	DOI 10.1016/j.immuni.2009.04.014 · PMID 19538929 · Free full text (PMC2768135)

Extracted findings

Intervention	Genetic (mTOR-deficient T cells)
Target	mTOR
Model	Mouse (T cells)
Effect	mTOR is required for effector T-cell differentiation; its loss biases cells toward the regulatory T-cell lineage

In the Atlas

Cite this paper

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Delgoffe, G. M., et al. (2009). The mTOR kinase differentially regulates effector and regulatory T cell lineage commitment. Immunity. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2009.04.014

@article{DEL2009,
  author       = {Delgoffe, G. M. and Powell, J. D. and others},
  title        = {{The mTOR kinase differentially regulates effector and regulatory T cell lineage commitment}},
  journal      = {Immunity},
  year         = {2009},
  doi          = {10.1016/j.immuni.2009.04.014},
  note         = {PMID: 19538929},
}

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 DEL2009) [Data set]. https://mtor-atlas.org/study/DEL2009/ · Dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22059963

@misc{atlas_DEL2009,
  author       = {Barton, Oliver},
  title        = {{Oliver's mTOR Atlas}, record DEL2009},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://mtor-atlas.org/study/DEL2009/},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.22059963}
}