Rapamycin administration in humans blocks the contraction-induced increase in skeletal muscle protein synthesis

Drummond MJ, Fry CS, Glynn EL, Dreyer HC, Dhanani S, Timmerman KL, Volpi E, Rasmussen BB · 2009 · Journal of Physiology · Atlas ID DRU2009

What this study shows

Rapamycin given before resistance exercise blocked the early (1–2 h) post-exercise rise in human muscle protein synthesis, which was about 40% in the control group. Rapamycin also blocked the rise in ERK1/2 phosphorylation and blunted MNK1, so the authors conclude that mTORC1 drives the response only in part. The study measured acute protein synthesis, not muscle growth.

Abstract

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Muscle protein synthesis and mTORC1 signalling are concurrently stimulated following muscle contraction in humans. In an effort to determine whether mTORC1 signalling is essential for regulating muscle protein synthesis in humans, we treated subjects with a potent mTORC1 inhibitor (rapamycin) prior to performing a series of high-intensity muscle contractions. Here we show that rapamycin treatment blocks the early (1-2 h) acute contraction-induced increase ( approximately 40%) in human muscle protein synthesis.

Read the full abstract on PubMed →

At a glance

Evidence type	H Human study Marked H because it is direct evidence from a human clinical trial or human cohort; the code names the kind of study, not its quality -- a small, well-run trial is still H.
Study type	2 - Human Clinical Trial
Model system	Humans, controlled trial
Journal	Journal of Physiology
Year	2009
Peer reviewed	Yes
Record last updated	2026-10-01
Source	DOI 10.1113/jphysiol.2008.163816 · PMID 19188252 · Free full text (PMC2678224)

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 (pre-exercise)
Target	mTORC1
Model	Human – controlled trial
Effect	Rapamycin blocks the contraction-induced increase in human skeletal muscle protein synthesis
Dose	Rapamycin, single oral dose before a bout of high-intensity resistance exercise (exact mg not captured; full text not retrievable via PMC).
Sample size	Small human controlled trial (full text unavailable; abstract-level).
Effect size	Rapamycin blocked the early (1-2 h) ~40% contraction-induced increase in human muscle protein synthesis; downstream mTORC1 signaling (S6K1) blunted.
Limitations	Small sample; full text not retrievable via PMC, so dose/n taken from abstract only.

In the Atlas

Links in the pathway map

Supports Resistance exercise / mechanical load activates mTORC1

Open questions that cite this study

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

Cite this paper

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Drummond, M. J., Fry, C. S., Glynn, E. L., Dreyer, H. C., Dhanani, S., Timmerman, K. L., Volpi, E., & Rasmussen, B. B. (2009). Rapamycin administration in humans blocks the contraction-induced increase in skeletal muscle protein synthesis. Journal of Physiology. https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.2008.163816

@article{DRU2009,
  author       = {Drummond, M. J. and Fry, C. S. and Glynn, E. L. and Dreyer, H. C. and Dhanani, S. and Timmerman, K. L. and Volpi, E. and Rasmussen, B. B.},
  title        = {{Rapamycin administration in humans blocks the contraction-induced increase in skeletal muscle protein synthesis}},
  journal      = {Journal of Physiology},
  year         = {2009},
  doi          = {10.1113/jphysiol.2008.163816},
  note         = {PMID: 19188252},
}

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 DRU2009) [Data set]. https://mtor-atlas.org/study/DRU2009/ · Dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22059963

@misc{atlas_DRU2009,
  author       = {Barton, Oliver},
  title        = {{Oliver's mTOR Atlas}, record DRU2009},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://mtor-atlas.org/study/DRU2009/},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.22059963}
}

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